Effect of property rights on the relationship between legal origins and corporate governance mechanisms : evidence from the Mena Region

Dissertant

Abd al-Bari, Rua

Thesis advisor

Faruq, Umar

University

Al Akhawayn University

Faculty

The School of Business Administration

University Country

Morocco

Degree

Master

Degree Date

2011

English Abstract

Do legal origins really matter in term of corporate governance? How do property rights affect the relationship between legal origins and corporate governance? Using a large dataset from the MENA region during the period between 2005 and 2009, we document that differences in legal traditions translate into differences in corporate governance mechanisms.

Our results show that common law countries have better governance mechanisms relative to civil law countries.

We report lower dividend payouts, lower ownership concentration, lower complexity of financial statements (higher transparency), and better choice of auditors for firms in common law countries in the MENA region.

Interestingly, our results show that above relationships hold only in the weak property rights regimes.

As the property rights become strong, the difference between the corporate governance mechanisms in common and civil law countries evaporate.

Our results suggest the power that enforcement mechanisms have in explaining the relationship between legal origins and corporate governance mechanisms.

Main Subjects

Law

Topics

• Right to property
• Middle East
• Corporate governance

No. of Pages

32

Table of Contents

• APA
• MLA
• AMA

Language

English

Data Type

Arab Theses

Record ID

BIM-624650