Corporate Governance in Asia

Abstract

This study examines the state of corporate governance in some countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Since the early 1990s, corporate governance has been receiving increasing attention from regulatory bodies and practitioners worldwide. A key aspect of improving corporate governance in the region is that improved investor protection and more transparent information will enhance the development of local capital markets and promote foreign investment to provide funds for long-term economic development. The authors suggest that individual countries should first focus on improving national standards of regulation and corporate practice rather than attempt to reach a common set of matrices from the start. When appropriate governance standards are in place in individual countries, codes of best practice could then be integrated into a consistent framework for all countries to develop more regionally integrated capital markets.Corporate governance refers to the system through which the behaviour of a company is monitored and controlled. The significance of corporate governance is that in modern economies large corporations are typically associated with a division of labour between the parties who provide the capital (i.e., shareholders) and the parties who manage the resources (i.e., management). Conflict of interest among the two groups might lead to insufficient monitoring of the executive, suboptimal levels of investment in the firm, or some shareholders being expropriated. In these scenarios shareholders might be hurt if there are not sufficient means to ensure that the company is properly monitored.Interest in corporate governance by policy makers in developed countries had grown significantly by the early 1990s. Three issues were addressed and studied following a general concern with the overall efficiency of the corporate world. First,

Executive compensation in Asia: A critical review and outlook

“…For example, Table 2 shows the incentive mechanisms for directors in different Asian countries, providing an ideal lab for testing the generalizability of agency theory (Pleggenkuhle-Miles, Aroul, Sun, & Su, 2007) and offering an opportunity for integrating agency theory with an institution-based view (Berrone & GomezMejia, 2009). Adapted from Roche (2005) and Thomas (2008). Is there a trend towards the use of stock options for directors' compensation?…”

Do Chinese corporations take their governance practices abroad? Evidence from Chinese mining subsidiaries in Australia

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Role of independent supervisory board members in Central and Eastern European countries

“…For instance, approximately 38 per cent out the 250 biggest Australian corporations formed boards with the majority of independent directors, and in 19 per cent of these boards independent directors are present ( Hall and Le Mire, 2007 ). The independent directors ' participation on the boards seems to be very promising in Asian countries that are extremely active in reforming their corporate governance systems ( Roche, 2003 ). In 2004, on average, three independent directors were present on the board of each of the 1300 Chinese companies ( Wang, 2007 ).…”

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