Corporate Shareholding Pattern: An Analysis of the Changing Perspective in the Indian Capital Markets

Abstract

One of the peculiar characteristics of a corporate identity is the concept of separation of ownership and control. It implies that the owners of a corporate entity are not its managers. While the legal fiction operating upon a corporation makes the shareholders (equity shareholders to be precise) of the corporation as its members, the management is vested in an office (Board of Directors) which again may be said to be appointed by the shareholders but practically speaking are free to decide, on most issues, the actions as of the corporation.

In fact changing shareholding pattern had been a niche and important area of study right from the time the Berle-Means debate brought out its implications in vogue. On similar lines the present paper examines the changes brought out in the shareholding pattern in the capital markets in India.

Keywords: changing shareholding pattern, India

JEL Classification: K22