Corporate Governance in China: A Survey*

The role of boards of directors in corporate governance: a conceptual framework and survey

Fuxiu Jiang and Kenneth Kim

Review of Finance, 2020, vol. 24, issue 4, 733-772

Abstract: This article surveys corporate governance in China, as described in a growing literature published in top journals. Unlike the classical vertical agency problems in Western countries, the dominant agency problem in China is the horizontal agency conflict between controlling and minority shareholders arising from concentrated ownership structure; thus one cannot automatically apply what is known about the USA to China. As these features are also prevalent in many other countries, insights from this survey can also be applied to countries far beyond China. We start by describing controlling shareholder and agency problems in China, and then discuss how law and institutions are particularly important for China, where controlling shareholders have great power. As state-owned enterprises have their own features, we separately discuss their corporate governance. We also briefly discuss corporate social responsibility in China. Finally, we provide an agenda for future research.

Keywords: Corporate governance; Controlling shareholder; Investor protection; State-owned enterprise; Corporate social responsibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G30 G34 G38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (189)

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