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Are Codes Fostering Convergence in Corporate Governance? An Institutional Perspective

  • Chapter
The Convergence of Corporate Governance

Abstract

This chapter discusses the role of corporate governance codes’ in the context of pressures for corporate governance convergence across countries. We show that there is a diverging convergence as corporate governance practices continually evolve. Further, given that codes are non-mandatory in most countries, firms can cherry pick to adopt those practices that best fit their interests. This is consistent with the view that firms as agents have some degree of freedom in creating their corporate governance portfolio even though they are embedded in a given national or institutional environment (Aguilera and Jackson, 2003; Aguilera, Desender, and Castro-Kabbach, 2011). In this chapter, we seek to address the following questions posed in this book through the lenses of corporate governance codes:

  • What are the institutional drivers that propel firms in different nations towards convergence in corporate governance?

  • What are the major impediments that stand in the way of convergence?

  • What empirical evidence suggests that we are moving towards or away from convergence?

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Authors
  1. Ilir Haxhi
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  2. Ruth V. Aguilera
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Texas at Arlington, USA

    Abdul A. Rasheed

  2. Singapore Management University, Singapore

    Toru Yoshikawa

Copyright information

© 2012 Ilir Haxhi and Ruth V. Aguilera

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Haxhi, I., Aguilera, R.V. (2012). Are Codes Fostering Convergence in Corporate Governance? An Institutional Perspective. In: Rasheed, A.A., Yoshikawa, T. (eds) The Convergence of Corporate Governance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137029560_11

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