Corporate Governance, Neoliberalism and Transition Economies

Abstract

Transition on a neoliberal model facilitated the misappropriation of the accumulated wealth of ex-command economies by the politically well placed and by western investors. This model caused a massive reduction in the productive capacity of these countries. The subsequent introduction of more nuanced approaches to transition, in scholarly thought and in the initiatives of global institutions have facilitated the emergence a new form neoliberalism – already current in developed economies. This new form emerges from a dialectical relationship between the ideal (neo-liberal shareholder primacy) and the compromise (individual countries’ cultural context) which is expressed in corporate governance Codes. The absence of progressive alternative models of governance has enabled global institutions and corporations to define the purpose of corporate governance.

Keywords: corporate governance, ex-command economies, neoliberalism