One Share - One Vote: The Theory

Posted: 14 Jul 2008

See all articles by Mike Burkart

Mike Burkart

Swedish House of Finance; London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Finance; Finance Theory Group (FTG); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Samuel Lee

Santa Clara University - Leavey School of Business; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); Swedish House of Finance

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: 2008

Abstract

The theoretical literature on security-voting structure can be organized around three questions: What impact do nonvoting shares have on takeover outcomes? How does disproportional voting power affect the incentives of blockholders? What are the repercussions of mandating one share - one vote for firms' financing and ownership choices? Overall, the costs and benefits of separating cash flow and votes reflect the fundamental governance trade off between disempowering blockholders and empowering managers. It is therefore an open question whether mandating one share - one vote would improve the quality of corporate governance, notably in systems that so far relied on active owners.

Keywords: G32

Suggested Citation

Burkart, Mike C. and Lee, Samuel, One Share - One Vote: The Theory (2008). Review of Finance, Vol. 12, Issue 1, pp. 1-49, 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1159631 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/rof/rfm035

Mike C. Burkart (Contact Author)

Swedish House of Finance ( email )

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111 60 Stockholm
Sweden

London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Finance ( email )

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London, WC2A 2AE
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Finance Theory Group (FTG) ( email )

United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

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European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

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HOME PAGE: http://www.ecgi.org

Samuel Lee

Santa Clara University - Leavey School of Business

500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA California 95053
United States

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium

Swedish House of Finance ( email )

Drottninggatan 98
111 60 Stockholm
Sweden

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