THE CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE DEBATE: A REGULATORY CONVERSATIONS PERSPECTIVE

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Abstract

A frequent starting point when the developments of the world’s corporate governance systems are discussed is whether those systems will converge (see e.g. Hansmann & Kraakman, 2004) or continue on their path of divergence (se e.g. Roe, 2000). The empirical evidence used in that discussion could be referred to as “anecdotic” (Coffee, 2001). Given the weight of the theoretical arguments on convergence or divergence and the weaknesses in their empirical support, one could argue that these two concepts co-vary rather than mutely exclude and can thus help to account for the findings of simultaneous convergence and divergence in e.g. Collier & Zaman (2005) and Jonnergård & Larsson (2007). In this paper the processes leading up to the Swedish corporate governance code being issued are used to shed some light on how divergence in convergence and convergence in divergence are produced in the regulatory discourse (Black, 2002).

Keywords: Convergence, Divergence, Corporate Governance System

How to cite this paper: Larsson-Olaison, U. (2010). The convergence and divergence debate: a regulatory conversations perspective. Corporate Ownership & Control, 7(4-4), 462-472. https://doi.org/10.22495/cocv7i4c4p4