The Cross-National Diversity of Corporate Governance: Dimensions and Determinants

In this article, we develop a theoretical model to identify and explain the diversity of corporate governance across advanced capitalist economies. Our sociological approach is inspired by actor-centered institutionalism in stressing the interplay of institutions and firm-level actors. This model bridges the gap between undersocialized agency theory approaches and oversocialized views of institutional theory. In particular, we examine: (1) how a country's property rights, financial system, and inter-firm networks will shape the role of capital; (2) how a country's representation rights, union organization, and skill formation will influence the role of labor; and (3) how a country's management ideology and…