This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Aguilera, R. V. Articles by Jackson, G. Search for Related Content

An Organizational Approach to Comparative Corporate Governance: Costs, Contingencies, and Complementarities

Department of Business Administration and Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois 61820
Cass Business School, City University London, London EC1Y 8TZ, United Kingdom
Department of Management, King's College University of London, London SE1 9NH, United Kingdom
Department of Management, King's College University of London, London SE1 9NH, United Kingdom
ruth-agu{at}uiuc.edu
igor.filatotchev{at}city.ac.uk
h.gospel{at}kcl.ac.uk
gregory.2.jackson{at}kcl.ac.uk

This paper develops an organizational approach to corporate governance and assesses the effectiveness of corporate governance and implications for policy. Most corporate governance research focuses on a universal link between corporate governance practices (e.g., board structure, shareholder activism) and performance outcomes, but neglects how interdependencies between the organization and diverse environments lead to variations in the effectiveness of different governance practices. In contrast to such closed systems approaches, we propose a framework based on open systems approaches to organizations, which examines these organizational interdependencies in terms of the costs, contingencies, and complementarities of different corporate governance practices. These three sets of organizational factors are useful in analyzing the effectiveness of corporate governance in diverse organizational environments. We also explore the impact of costs, contingencies, and complementarities on the effectiveness of different governance aspects through the use of stylized cases and discuss the implications for different approaches to policy such as soft law or hard law.

Key Words: corporate governance; comparative corporate governance; effectiveness; organizational environments; board independence; information disclosure; insider control; institutional; costs; contingencies; complementarities; Germany; Japan; Italy; France; Russia; United States; United Kingdom

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. Ennen and A. Richter The Whole Is More Than the Sum of Its Parts-- Or Is It? A Review of the Empirical Literature on Complementarities in Organizations Journal of Management, January 1, 2010; 36(1): 207 - 233. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. T. Certo, T. R. Holcomb, and R. M. Holmes Jr IPO Research in Management and Entrepreneurship: Moving the Agenda Forward Journal of Management, December 1, 2009; 35(6): 1340 - 1378. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. T. Mahoney, A. M. McGahan, and C. N. Pitelis Perspective--The Interdependence of Private and Public Interests Organization Science, November 1, 2009; 20(6): 1034 - 1052. [Abstract] [PDF]

				D. C. Hambrick, A. v. Werder, and E. J. Zajac New Directions in Corporate Governance Research Organization Science, May 1, 2008; 19(3): 381 - 385. [Abstract] [PDF]