Title: The role of institutional investors on the governance of SMEs: evidence from an Italian perspective

Authors: Emanuele Teti; Francesco Perrini

Addresses: Department of Finance, Bocconi University, Milan 20136, Italy; CReSV Research Centre, Bocconi University, Milan 20136, Italy ' Department of Management, Bocconi University, Milan 20136, Italy; CReSV Research Centre, Bocconi University, Milan 20136, Italy

Abstract: This paper contributes towards the investigation of the dynamism of corporate governance of Italian small and medium enterprises in the light of the growing role of private equity funds. Results of a survey, conducted on companies acquired by financial investors during a defined time window, suggest the key role of institutional investors in governance procedures of Italian small enterprises. When the investors enter the equity structure of a company, they play an active and valuable monitoring role that safeguards companies against the risk that the interests of ownership will prevail over their own. To guide possible research follow-up in this field, we discuss the most interesting results of the analysis and develop some considerations on the main issues that could be approached in any following studies.

Keywords: SMEs; small and medium-sized enterprises; corporate governance; Italy; institutional investors; ownership; private equity funds.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2013.054314

European Journal of International Management, 2013 Vol.7 No.3, pp.350 - 368

Published online: 10 Sep 2014 *

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