Comparative Corporate Governance

Over the last three decades, systemic corporate misconduct, increased shareholder activism, and recurrent global financial crises have stirred an extensive academic, business, and societal debate over corporate governance (CG) and the way public corporations are directed and controlled. CG studies “the power and influence over decision making within the corporation,” focusing notably on how to monitor managers, protect minority shareholders, enhance reporting and disclosure, and improve employee and other stakeholder participation in firms’ strategic decisions. This brief overview seeks to grasp the state-of-the-art of comparative CG by focusing on its definition, regulation and practices, alternative models, and its internal and external characteristics, and current debates and future trends.