The Leximetric Research on Shareholder Protection

Abstract

The leximetric research on shareholder protection can contribute to core questions of comparative company law. For example, such research may be able to show whether or not there is a trend to increase shareholder power across countries. It can also provide us with tools to confirm or challenge whether there are deep differences between civil and common law countries in company law.

The main parts of this paper are based on leximetric datasets collected in a project on Law, Finance and Development at the University of Cambridge. It discusses the research of this project as well as related research not affiliated with this group. In addition, it will present new data that bring up-to-date some of the findings of the original project.

This paper complements research available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2579832

Keywords: shareholder protection, leximetrics, law and finance, comparative company law, legal origins, legal families, convergence

JEL Classification: F68, G30, G34, K22, M20, N40, O16, P50