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Corporate Ownership Structure and Performance in Europe

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  • Jeremy Grant
  • Thomas Kirchmaier

Abstract

In this paper, we show that ownership structures vary considerably across Europe, and that the dominant form ofownership is not necessarily the most efficient one. These findings are in contradiction to similar research basedon US samples. The results also demonstrate that firms without a dominant shareholder tend to outperform theircountry peer groups. We base our analysis on a new and unique dataset of uniform ownership data of the largest100 firms in the five major European economies. We quantify the differences in ownership by comparing threedistinct ownership structures of firms and relating them to performance. For the first time we employ aHodrick-Prescott Filter, a methodology widely used in macroeconomics to isolate the trend growth componentsfrom cyclical fluctuations, to estimate the share price trend of each firm. We take this trend as a good indirectindicator of the quality of governance.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeremy Grant & Thomas Kirchmaier, 2004. "Corporate Ownership Structure and Performance in Europe," CEP Discussion Papers dp0631, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0631
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Christian Espinosa & Carlos Maquieira, 2010. "Diversificación y Desempeño en Sud América: Evidencia para Chile," Working Papers 10, Facultad de Economía y Empresa, Universidad Diego Portales.
    2. repec:zbw:iamost:254051 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Matyukha, Andriy, 2017. "Business groups in agriculture impact of ownership structures on performance: The case of Russia's agroholdings," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies 254051, Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO).
    4. Maria Consuelo Pucheta‐Martínez & Cristina De Fuentes, 2007. "The Impact of Audit Committee Characteristics on the Enhancement of the Quality of Financial Reporting: an empirical study in the Spanish context," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(6), pages 1394-1412, November.
    5. Irina Ivashkovskaya & Anastasia Stepanova, 2011. "Does strategic corporate performance depend on corporate financial architecture? Empirical study of European, Russian and other emerging market’s firms," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 15(4), pages 603-616, November.
    6. Patricia Crifo & Marc-Arthur Diaye & Rim Oueghlissi & Sanja Pekovic, 2016. "What drives firm's firm’s Corporate Social Responsibility: The role of ownership concentration," Post-Print hal-01410824, HAL.
    7. Matyukha, Andriy, 2017. "Business groups in agriculture. Impact of ownership structures on performance: The case of Russia's agroholdings," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 85, number 85.
    8. Dhillon, Amrita & Rossetto, Silvia, 2009. "Corporate Control and Multiple Large Shareholders," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 891, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    9. Abdallah, Abed Al-Nasser & Ismail, Ahmad K., 2017. "Corporate governance practices, ownership structure, and corporate performance in the GCC countries," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 98-115.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate governance; ownership structures; performance; Europe;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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