The control of corporate Europe

Book abstract:

Shareholders own the business. Managers control the business. Who then controls the managers? These two comments on the modern corporate scene and the question that they prompt are at the centre of this work.

The volume comprises a collection of essays reporting how listed companies are controlled in different European countries. The benchmark for comparison is a chapter on the USA. The European Corporate Governance Network (ECGN) gathered local research teams familiar with the language and corporate culture of their own countries to investigate issues of common interest. Their findings form chapters which are country specific and range over Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK. The volume closes with the earlier benchmark chapter on the USA.

Fabrizio Barca is General Director for Development at the Italian Treasury, President of the OECD Territorial Policies Committee, and Director of a Research Programme on Corporate and Public Administration at Sienna University.

Marco Becht teaches at the Institute for European Studies, the Solvay Business School, and the Law Faculty of the Université Libre de Bruxelles.