Title

Voluntary Adoption of Corporate Governance Mechanisms

Abstract

We examine the extent to which firms adopt recommended but not required corporate governance guidelines and establish that firms voluntarily implement suggested domestic best practices and the mandatory practices of neighboring countries as well. Drawing on the intuition of a principal-agent model in which the entrepreneur cannot fund all positive NPV projects, we hypothesize that access to capital is a primary determinant of the willingness of firms to voluntarily adopt corporate governance mechanisms. Our empirical results provide significant evidence that firms voluntarily adopt corporate governance guidelines. These results suggest that global competition for capital encourages firms to voluntarily adopt governance mechanisms that are attractive to both domestic and foreign investors. We provide some evidence that the integration of global capital markets may lead to convergence in governance standards across countries.

Disciplines

Business Organizations Law | Securities Law

Date of this Version

April 2006