Corporate Governance in Germany: An Empirical Analysis

Corporate Governance in Germany: An Empirical Analysis

Period: 01.03.1998 – 31.12.2001

Corporate governance is the complex system of legal, institutional and market-based control devices of large companies. The functioning of this system is, however, only weakly explained by economic theory and there is a lack of empirical analyses. The aim of this project is to contribute to the better understanding of corporate governance in Germany. In the first phase of the project great effort has been devoted to constructing a database which encompasses important firm-specific information required for any analysis of corporate governance: data on financial performance, ownership structures, the capital structure, the degree of competition in product markets and basic macroeconomic variables. This has been a central task of the project since such a database had not yet existed for Germany. Initial analyses have already been conducted using this new database. In the second phase of the project the database will be further extended. Econometric analyses will be conducted on the following topics:

  • What are the determinants of market exit and growth of firms?
  • What are the causes and consequences of friendly takeovers? Is there any difference to hostile takeovers?
  • Which internal and external corporate governance mechanisms ensure the continuous success of firms? Which mechanisms force inefficient firms to exit their markets?

Policy implications are expected for competition policy at the German and European level. But also the role of institutional investors for productivity growth will be explored and hence implications will be derived for the reform of the German pension system.

Project members

Prof. Axel Börsch-Supan, PhD

Prof. Axel Börsch-Supan, PhD

Project Coordinator

To the profile

Selected Publications

Determinants of Acquisition and Failure: Evidence from Corporate Germany

Köke, Jens (2002), Determinants of Acquisition and Failure: Evidence from Corporate Germany, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics 13(4) , 457-484

Product Market Competition, Corporate Governance and Firm Performance: An empirical Analysis for Germany

Köke, Jens, Silke Januszewski and Joachim Winter (2002), Product Market Competition, Corporate Governance and Firm Performance: An empirical Analysis for Germany, Research in Economics 3 , 299-332

An Applied Econometricians' View of Empirical Corporate Governance Studies

Köke, Jens and Axel Börsch-Supan (2002), An Applied Econometricians' View of Empirical Corporate Governance Studies, German Economic Review 3 , 295-326

The Market for Corporate Control in a Bank-based Economy: A Governance Device?

Köke, Jens (2002), The Market for Corporate Control in a Bank-based Economy: A Governance Device?, Journal of Corporate Finance

An Applied Econometrician's View of Empirical Corporate Governance Studies

Börsch-Supan, Axel and Jens Köke (2002), An Applied Econometrician's View of Empirical Corporate Governance Studies, German Economic Review 3(3) , 295-326

Product Market Competition, Corporate Governance and Firm Performance: An Empirical Analysis for Germany

Januszewski, Silke, Jens Köke and Joachim Winter (2002), Product Market Competition, Corporate Governance and Firm Performance: An Empirical Analysis for Germany, Research in Economics 56(3) , 299-332

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