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New evidence on ownership structures in Germany

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  • Köke, Jens

Abstract

Ownership structures are an important element of the theory explaining corporate governance. This study presents detailed descriptive evidence on the ownership structures of German manufacturing firms. It addresses several shortcomings of the previous German empirical literature: First, we study all legal forms of a Kapitalgesellschaft, firms that generally have a separation of ownership and control. We do not focus exclusively on the listed Aktiengesellschaft (AG) but include many non-listed firms. Second, we examine changes in the ownership structure. This is a new and important approach because these changes are frequently related to corporate performance. Third, we analyze the higher levels of ownership structures, i.e. ownership structures of the direct owners. Thereby we address an issue quant itatively which only recently became subject of empirical studies. Finally, we find that crossownership is of minor relevance in the German manufacturing sector. However, our measure of cross-ownership represents only a lower bound.

Suggested Citation

  • Köke, Jens, 1999. "New evidence on ownership structures in Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 99-60, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:5273
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    Cited by:

    1. T. Biebuyck & Ariane Chapelle & Ariane Szafarz, 2002. "Les leviers de contrôle des actionnaires majoritaires," Working Papers CEB 03-001.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    2. Inmaculada Aguiar-Diaz & María Victoria Ruiz-Mallorquí & Lourdes Trujillo, 2020. "Ownership structure and financial performance of Spanish port service companies," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 22(4), pages 674-698, December.
    3. Christoph Kaserer & Benjamin Moldenhauer, 2008. "Insider ownership and corporate performance: evidence from Germany," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-35, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    ownership structure; corporate governance;

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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