American, European and Asia-Pacific Corporate Governance Models: Differences and Convergence

The principal corporate governance models worldwide are the Common Law, Code Law and Asia-Pacific models. These models differ in the roles of share markets, analysts, stakeholders (labor, banks, suppliers and customers), groups of related companies (family groups, keiretsu), managers and governments. Corporate governance is an important issue due to recent scandals and continued globalization. Globalization is causing some convergence of the corporate governance models, but there are limits. Further, governance claims should not necessarily be taken at face value.