Ownership Structure and Control Models in Italian Listed Companies

Many are the theoretical approaches that investigated the interactions among ownership, strategic and governance structures, as well as the relationship between such variables and the competitive, institutional environment. Independently of the approach, it is evident that corporate governance models also represent the result of the set of influences unrelated to companies and to their developments. Therefore, besides the traditional classifications of corporate governance systems, it would be advisable to consider also the specificities of each “national economic system”, of its regulatory apparatus, and of the characteristics of its industrial and financial systems. And it is precisely in this perspective that this study aims at analysing the Italian capitalist system, with particular regard to the changes that affected the ownership structure, control models and performance of listed companies, due to the changes recorded in the regulatory and self-regulatory contexts. These changes, although they have significantly increased the level of investor protection, have had a limited effect on control contestability and on the ownership structure of Italian listed companies.