Global and National Comparative Corporate Governance Codes

This article assesses the continuity and commonality of particular aspects of governance in global and national (US, UK and Australian) corporate governance codes. First, continuity is measured by identifying governance variables which recur over time throughout the evolution (including reform) of governance variables in a sector. Second, flowing from this, the article assesses the relative importance of governance variables in the context in which they primarily operate — the various global and national governance codes — in order to identify: • a comparative scheme in table-form for comparing governance codes; and • a ‘core’ set of governance variables for each sector and across all sectors. Third, given the shared objective of eliminating harmful management misconduct in terms of agency theory, to what extent do the governance codes display a converging aspect? In this respect, the article will demonstrate that the governance codes give rise to a collection of eight underlying and recurring themes and tensions as the objectives of ‘good’ governance practice (Governance Factors). In turn, the article hypothesises that these Governance Factors represent the themes and tensions underpinning harmonisation or convergence in global and national governance codes. In addition, the ‘core’ governance variables identified above are the ‘central’ governance variables around which this harmonisation or convergence is taking place. The use of the Governance Factors in the reform of governance codes will ensure that the relative importance of the proposed governance variables is assessed in a consistent and meaningful manner.Francesco De Zwar