ABSTRACT
Introduction The long standing debate about the relative merits of public and private ownership has, since the 1980s, been superseded by a debate about the merits of the various forms that private ownership actually takes. Issues of corporate governance-the mechanisms through which firms are organised and controlled-have come to the fore as increasing international integration has highlighted the very real differences that exist in these mechanisms. How far do different governance structures impact upon economic performance of the corporate sector and hence upon the income and welfare of a country’s citizens? The question is as important for the so-called major industrial economies as it is for the transition economies, where fundamental choices have had to be made.
