Teaching Comparative Corporate Governance: The Significance of 'Soft Law' and International Institutions

Author(s):  
Douglas M. Branson
Equilibrium ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 7-20
Author(s):  
Stanisław Rudolf

Over the last 10 - 15 years significant changes took place in principal systems of corporate governance i.e. in the Anglo-Saxon and German systems. These changes were of similar or the same character. This was an effect of economic crises, mainly crises of 1997 – 1998 and 2007 – 2009. The crises have influenced the changes either directly through amendments in the so-called hard law of national systems of supervision or indirectly through recommendations on corporate governance issued by international institutions and organizations. The OECD and the European Commission played the most important part in this respect. These organizations had a big impact on the formation and shape of the so-called codes of good practice, whose principles are generally implemented by companies, mainly listed companies. The principles happen to be of the so-called soft law character and after some encouraging experience with their use take on the form of legislation.


Author(s):  
Hanna Surmatz

This chapter seeks to answer whether corporate governance principles apply to public benefit foundations, taking into account the specific structure of philanthropic foundations as asset-based and purpose-driven organisations without owners and shareholders, and, if so, in which ways? In search of a response, the chapter reviews internal and external governance rules of public benefit foundations as tools to safeguard the will of the founder(s) and pursuit of the statutory public benefit purpose in a comparative perspective and places them in the context of recent policy. The chapter concludes that classical corporate governance theory, including principal–agent theory, is not suitable for public benefit foundations and more comprehensive principles should be further developed and tested. It also suggests that the interplay of hard law and soft law as well as internal and external governance elements seems necessary to provide appropriate governance approaches.


2000 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 501 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Cioffi ◽  
Klaus J. Hopt ◽  
Hideki Kanda ◽  
Mark J. Roe ◽  
Eddy Wymeersch ◽  
...  

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