ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the characteristics of the different types of corporate governance systems that exist around the world, the goals of the different actors in each type of system, and the consequences of each system for company performance. In recent years, considerable attention has been devoted to differences across countries in the institutional environments in which corporations operate, and the consequences of these institutional differences for corporate performance. One branch of this literature has been concerned with corporate governance structures. A second branch of the literature focuses upon the broader legal environment in which corporations operate. All corporate governance systems in the advanced countries of the world must be judged as successes on an absolute basis. Although all corporate governance systems in advanced countries are obviously doing reasonably well, some appear to be doing better than others, and most recently the best preforming systems appear to be in the Anglo-Saxon countries.
