Shareholder Protection Around the World (Leximetric II*)

37 Pages Posted: 14 Sep 2008 Last revised: 30 Jan 2014

See all articles by Mathias Siems

Mathias Siems

European University Institute (EUI); University of Cambridge - Centre for Business Research; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Date Written: May 16, 2008

Abstract

This article analyzes how shareholder protection has developed in twenty countries from 1995 to 2005. In contrast to traditional legal research, it draws on a quantitative methodology to law (called leximetrics or numerical comparative law). This methodology reveals that in most countries shareholder protection has improved in the last years; that developed countries perform better than developing countries in protecting shareholders; that shareholder protection in common law countries is relatively similar, whereas no comparable similarity is found within the German and French civil law families; that German corporate law is "more mainstream" and U.S. corporate law is "more eccentric" than the law of the other countries; and that, in general, there has been convergence in the last decade. In order to explain these results, the distinction between origin and transplant countries can be useful. However, in contrast to previous studies, this does not mean that all depends on the distinction between English, French, and German origin and transplant countries. Rather it is decisive (1) which "version" of the corporate law the transplant country copied, (2) whether transplant countries continue to take developments in the origin countries into account, and (3) whether transplant countries have left the path of their (former) origin countries.

This paper is part of a wider research project. The related papers can be downloaded at http://ssrn.com/abstract=897479 and http://ssrn.com/abstract=1094355.

Keywords: Delaware, Journal, Corporate, Law, Shareholder Protection

Suggested Citation

Siems, Mathias, Shareholder Protection Around the World (Leximetric II*) (May 16, 2008). Delaware Journal of Corporate Law (DJCL), Vol. 33, No. 1, 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1267440

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