Advances in Corporate Governance: Comparative Perspectives

The governance of the modern corporation is broadly understood as the mechanisms, relations, and processes for balancing the interests of stakeholders. It spells out the rules and procedures for decision-making, accountability and transparency, and distributional rights. Corporate governance thus provides the framework in which corporate objectives are set, the means of attaining them, the kind of performance monitoring required, and by whom. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis and large-scale corporate failures, the issue of corporate governance has repeatedly received the attention of policy-makers and the wider public. Extending the study of corporate governance beyond that of listed corporations sheds new light on the overall performance of corporations in market economies. These include small to medium-sized corporations, nonprofit organisations and philanthropic foundations, public corporations and public-private partnerships, social enterprises and cooperatives, international organisations, and corporations in cyberspace. A decade after the massive failures in the governance of financial corporations, and with continued governance failures in other parts of the economy since then, this volume takes stock and asks: what has been the performance of corporate governance regimes, and have regulatory changes and corporate governance codes made a difference? What are the strengths and weaknesses of current corporate governance systems and codes? How do corporate forms differ in their governance performance, and what have been the experiences across countries? And, finally, what implications for understanding governance behaviour and for policy-makers and regulators come to mind?

Helmut K. Anheier, Past President and Professor of Sociology, Hertie School of Governance Adjunct Professor, Luskin School of Public Affairs, UCLA, Theodor Baums, Professor for Civil, Trade and Business Law, Goethe University Frankfurt

Helmut K. Anheier is past President of the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin and Professor of Sociology. He is also a faculty member of the Luskin School of Public Affairs at UCLA. His research centres on indicator systems, social innovation, culture, civil society and philanthropy, and organisational studies. He held a Chair of Sociology at Heidelberg University and served as Academic Director of the Centre for Social Investment and Innovation. He was a senior researcher at the Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for Policy Studies, and Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Anheier is author of over 500 publications and received various international awards.

Theodor Baums was the director of the Institute for Banking Law at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University in Frankfurt/Main and was one of the founders of the Institute for Law and Finance where he serves as a member of the management board. Prof. Baums has given numerous lectureships in Europe and in the U.S. Areas of current scholarly interest are corporations and capital markets. He has published more than 120 books and articles on corporations and civil and antitrust law. In 2005 he was awarded with the Euro Corporate Governance Quality Award by the Federal Minister of Justice and in 2006 with the Grand Cross 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The Hertie School in Berlin prepares exceptional students for leadership positions in government, business, and civil society. The school offers master’s, doctoral and executive education programmes distinguished by interdisciplinary and practice-oriented teaching, as well as outstanding research. Its extensive international network positions it as an ambassador of good governance, characterised by public debate and engagement. The school was founded in 2003 by the Hertie Foundation, which remains its major funder. The Hertie School is accredited by the state and the German Science Council.