ABSTRACT

This chapter explores the diverse approaches to corporate governance practised in the Asia Pacific countries. It considers the special qualities of the relationship-based approach to corporate governance and the pervasiveness of family-owned businesses, embedded in business networks. The chapter examines the distinctive corporate governance systems of the giant economies of Japan, China and India. It then considers the impact of the global financial crisis upon the Asia Pacific. The boards of directors of companies in Asia often serve a nominal and sometimes a perfunctory role. Boards are effectively dominated by majority shareholders. Banks and other financial institutions have a role in making sure that companies follow corporate governance principles and exercise prudent financial controls in advanced industrial countries. China since the 1990s has received large amounts of foreign direct investment (FDI) and in 2015 received US$249 billion in direct investment from other countries, rivalling the United States as the world's largest recipient of FDI.