Board structures and board behaviour: a cross-country comparison of privately held SMEs in Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway Online publication date: Tue, 31-Mar-2015
by Wim Voordeckers; Anita Van Gils; Jonas Gabrielsson; Diamanto Politis; Morten Huse
International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics (IJBGE), Vol. 9, No. 2, 2014
Abstract: In this study, we examine and compare formal board structures and actual board behaviour in privately held SMEs. We integrate and build on ideas from institutional theory and the behavioural theory of the firm to propose that privately held firms have specific governance needs that 'decouple' formal board structures from actual board behaviour. Following this logic, we expect board structures to vary across countries while board behaviour does not. We test this in a cross-country sample of SMEs in Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway. The empirical results support the proposition that board structures are largely decoupled from actual board behaviour in privately held SMEs. Overall, the findings imply that it is possible to coordinate and disseminate board development research and practice across countries despite national differences in formal board structures.
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