Corporate Governance : Political and Legal Perspectives

The capitalist economies of the developed world fall loosely into two highly divergent camps: one in which securities markets are robust and the ownership of large firms is broadly dispersed; the other in which securities markets are weak and ownership is highly concentrated. There is now a lively debate about the role of law in producing these diverse patterns. This volume brings together the foundational contributions to that debate, edited and introduced by one of the key participants. They are a must read for anyone who wishes to understand the relationship between law and the economic structure of modern societies.'- Henry Hansmann, Yale Law School, US'Mark Roe, one of the world's leading corporate law scholars, here presents a collection of first rate work (including his own) that addresses the deepest puzzle in comparative corporate governance: why is it that stock ownership patterns differ so significantly across countries, even where the stage of economic development is comparable? This volume will be of genuine value to scholars and students interested in comparative political economy as well as corporate law.'- Jeffrey N. Gordon, Columbia Law School, USThis insightful volume explores the issue of why some nations have deep securities markets while others do not, and investigates the new hope that securities markets could be the road to wealth and not just the result of it. This collection of key articles, together with the editor's comprehensive introduction, examines the recently emergent theories in the field.