Institutional contextuality of business best practices. The persistent cross-national diversity in the creation of corporate governance codes

Promotie: dhr. I. Haxhi, 13.15 uur, Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen

Proefschrift: Institutional contextuality of business best practices. The persistent cross-national diversity in the creation of corporate governance codes

Promotor(s): prof.dr. A. Sorge, prof.dr. H. van Ees

Faculteit: Economie en Bedrijfskunde

Contact: Ilir Haxhi, tel. 06 255 424 14, e-mail: i.haxhi@uva.nl

Institutional contextuality of business best practices. The persistent cross-national diversity in the creation of corporate governance codes

Corporate governance codes (CGCs) are sets of best practices designed to address deficiencies in formal contracts and institutions. What is the influence of institutional contextuality on persistent cross-national diversity in the creation of these codes? Haxhi presents three main lines of research to answer this question. First, by incorporating the effect of national culture, he offers a novel perspective on cross-national diversity in the worldwide diffusion of CGCs. For a sample of 67 countries, his analysis reveals that cultural characteristics affect this diffusion, indicating that culture may serve as a comprehensive indicator of good governance. Second, the process of institutionalization of such codes of best practice in the UK are explored. The UK code-issuing process is distinctively characterized by the role of business elites, the large number of codes and the unique characteristics of the field, reflecting this institutional contextuality. Third, by applying a fuzzy-set analysis of 22 OECD countries, the author examines how the causal complexity and cross-national diversity of actor-centered institutions affect the characteristics of CGCs. his findings have several implications. First, cultural characteristics perform well in explaining the patterns of cross-national diversity in the creation of CGCs. Second, the UK codification process indicates the potential value of social and institutional structures in explaining this creation. Finally, there are interesting interaction effects, which support the idea that the reciprocal constitution and change of intertwined actors have a critical influence on how the institutions (i.e. codes) take shape and evolve. CGCs, as part of institutional change, are best understood as components of an evolving actor-centered institutional dynamic.