Insiders, Outsiders and the Politics of Corporate Governance. How Ownership Structure Shapes Party Positions in Britain, Germany and France

Abstract

This article argues that differences in the dispersion of corporate ownership help explain why party positions on corporate governance vary across countries and over time. I show that British, French and German political debates over takeover regulation since the 1950s differ significantly along several dimensions, including the pattern of left/right competition and the timing of debate, and that these differences correspond to differences in the structure of corporate ownership. To explain the observed correlation, I assume that parties cater to their core constituents and provide reasons for why ownership structure shapes the preferences of both upscale socioeconomic groups and working class clienteles. These empirical and theoretical contributions inform the literatures on party competition, corporate governance, Varieties of Capitalism and institutional change.