Corporate governance and company performance in Italy: Corporate law and regulation perspective

Abstract

This paper proposes an extensive analysis of corporate governance and corporate board practices in Italy, under different perspectives. First of all, through a literature review, the research aims to analyze the main effects of laws and regulations on corporate board practices in the Italian setting by taking into account the most important corporate board models in different types of companies. This study also highlights the different functions and responsibilities assigned to the boards, bodies and boards’ members, according to the governance system implemented – classic/traditional, dualistic, monistic. For each of these systems, the main issues are presented and the most important critical points are illustrated. Regarding the functions and the responsibility of the board members, the link between the board governance and company performance is discussed on the basis of the main literature, as well as the laws concerning the participation of women to the boards’ activities. Furthermore, the effects of gender diversity on company performance is analysed taking into account the main studies on this topic. Finally, the paper presents some conclusions and future research areas on the aforementioned topics: it proposes future empirical analysis on the effects that different governance systems, different board compositions and different roles of directors, as required by the law, may have on the performance of listed/unlisted companies and on family/non-family companies.