The Control of Corporate Europe (Electronic book text)

The control of corporations is a subject that will appeal to a broad readership. How are the giant corporations that affect our lives controlled? Which individuals and institutions command the vast proportion of economic resources controlled by corporations? How do patterns of corporate control differ across European countries? This book answers these questions by providing a detailed analysis of corporate control in nine European countries - Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. -;Written by an international team of authors, this book provides the first systematic account of the control of corporate Europe based on voting block data disclosed in accordance with the European Union's Large Holdings Directive (88/627/EEC). The study provides detailed information on the voting control of companies listed on the official markets in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and, as a benchmark comparison, theUnited States. The authors record a high concentration of control of corporations in many European countries with single blockholders frequently controlling more than fifty per cent of corporate votes. In contrast, a majority of UK listed companies have no blockholder owning more than ten per cent ofshares, and a majority of US listed companies have no blockholder with more than six per cent of shares. Those chapters devoted to individual countries illustrate how blockholders can use legal devices to leverage their voting power over their cash-flow rights, or how incumbents prevent outsiders from gaining voting control. It is shown that the cultural and linguistic diversity of Europe is (almost) matched by its variety of corporate control arrangements.