This book will provide a comprehensive insight of the characteristics and development of corporate governance in Italy. Both the external institutional mechanisms, such as the codes of best practices and the mandatory auditor rotation, and the internal corporate governance devices, such as boardsa structure and composition and director compensation, will be analyzed. In particular, this book is presented to provide the reader an insight on the ownership structure and the control enhancement mechanisms adopted by the Italian dominant shareholders as well as the typical - and unique - two tier-board structure, with a board of directors and a board of statutory auditors, that is widely adopted among Italian companies. This book reveals that while corporate governance in Italy has - to some extent - converged towards other European and international models, there are certain core features that remain (and are likely to do so in the near future as well) and their knowledge and understanding is relevant to investors and other stakeholders.

Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) are unique economic and governance events as privately held firms issue common stock or shares to the public for the first time. The governance issues surrounding IPOs are relatively unexamined compared to more established, and usually larger, firms. As such, they provide a unique context to study corporate governance and its development around the world. Based on a collaborative international research project, this book analyses the corporate governance of IPOs in twenty-one countries, each of which is characterized by different governance environments and different levels of IPO activity. The end result is a broad and deep assessment of governance practices and IPO activity for an array of economies that represent roughly 80 percent of the global economy. These chapters collectively provide new insights into what a global theory of corporate governance might look like and offer guidance to policy makers and academics regarding national governance configurations.

Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) are unique economic and governance events as privately held firms issue common stock or shares to the public for the first time. The governance issues surrounding IPOs are relatively unexamined compared to more established, and usually larger, firms. As such, they provide a unique context to study corporate governance and its development around the world. Based on a collaborative international research project, this book analyses the corporate governance of IPOs in twenty-one countries, each of which is characterized by different governance environments and different levels of IPO activity. The end result is a broad and deep assessment of governance practices and IPO activity for an array of economies that represent roughly 80 percent of the global economy. These chapters collectively provide new insights into what a global theory of corporate governance might look like and offer guidance to policy makers and academics regarding national governance configurations.

The book focuses on corporate governance with an original perspective:(i) It is based on academic research: solid theory and rigorous empirical findings provided by previous studies; (ii) It has a strategic-management perspective, and it aims at helping students to learn both mindsets and frameworks, and competencies and useful knowledge to design and assess corporate governance practices; (iii) It presents best practices across major national governance systems at international level; (iv) It has been developed for didactic purposes;(v) It acknowledges the recent debate on shareholder and stakeholder views.