Issues in Corporate Governance

Corporate governance is the subject of considerable international attention today among academics from multiple management perspectives, practitioners, and regulators.

There is gathering evidence that good corporate governance translates into higher firm values and better returns to investors, which attracts greater investment flows and promotes economic growth. This makes good corporate governance particularly important in emerging markets.

Corporate governance is presented as a complex, multi-dimensional mechanism through which investors attempt to ensure returns on their investments, with practices that are highly contextual. Even so, insider-outsider and majority-minority conflicts are common and frequently severe in emerging markets. Besides developing an understanding of such issues, we cover the major elements of most corporate governance systems. We will review ownership structures, and the prominent role of families and business groups in emerging markets.

We will also study the impact of institutional ownership, and voting rights. As Boards of Directors are an important feature of the corporate governance of firms, they are discussed extensively in this program. Besides the advisory and monitoring duties of board directors, we will examine several distinguishing features of well-performing boards.

In a related discussion, we will discuss how governance enforcement can influence disclosure practices and corruption. Managers who attain excessive control can abuse their positions and draw large private benefits of control. We will consider managerial ownership and its impact on firm value and will also examine control mechanisms such as the structure of executive compensation. Finally, among some topics of special interests in emerging markets, we will look at changes in corporate governance through privatization, cross-boarder M & A’s, cross-listings, and the role of banks.

Program Information

Contact

Mazen El Khatib
StrateSphere Middle East
melkhatib@stratesphere.com