ABSTRACT
The growing popularity of corporate governance can be traced to the fact that companies are almost indispensable to individual entrepreneurship, societal welfare and national economic growth. In the same vein, as social embeddedness relate to higher contextual influences, which has been noted as the case in developing and emerging markets, enhancing board effectiveness in developing and emerging markets might therefore require a deeper examination of how institutions influence governance outcomes. While social embeddedness constrains the institutional environment, the institutional environment constrains the governance level, which in turn constrains the resource allocation level. The chapter also provides an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book. The book examines the relevance of the board and the attendant differences in board structures and practices, taking into consideration the different governance models prevalent in different institutional contexts. It argues that the implementation of an effective system of corporate governance is now of critical importance to China’s drive for economic growth.
