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Board structures and board behaviour: A cross-country comparison of privately held SMEs in Belgium, The Netherlands and Norway

Voordeckers, Wim ; Van Gils, Anita ; Gabrielsson, Jonas LU ; Politis, Diamanto LU and Huse, Morten (2014) In International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics 9(2). p.197-219
Abstract
In this study, we examine and compare formal board structures and actual board behaviour in privately held SMEs. We integrate and build on ideas from institutional theory and the behavioural theory of the firm to propose that privately held firms have specific governance needs that 'decouple' formal board structures from actual board behaviour. Following this logic, we expect board structures to vary across countries while board behaviour does not. We test this in a cross–country sample of SMEs in Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway. The empirical results support the proposition that board structures are largely decoupled from actual board behaviour in privately held SMEs. Overall, the findings imply that it is possible to coordinate and... (More)
In this study, we examine and compare formal board structures and actual board behaviour in privately held SMEs. We integrate and build on ideas from institutional theory and the behavioural theory of the firm to propose that privately held firms have specific governance needs that 'decouple' formal board structures from actual board behaviour. Following this logic, we expect board structures to vary across countries while board behaviour does not. We test this in a cross–country sample of SMEs in Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway. The empirical results support the proposition that board structures are largely decoupled from actual board behaviour in privately held SMEs. Overall, the findings imply that it is possible to coordinate and disseminate board development research and practice across countries despite national differences in formal board structures. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics
volume
9
issue
2
pages
197 - 219
publisher
Inderscience Publishers
external identifiers
  • scopus:84904692099
ISSN
1477-9048
DOI
10.1504/IJBGE.2014.063279
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e933ce78-30f6-42d5-862c-9bf0f2d718c5 (old id 4810412)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:35:10
date last changed
2024-01-06 20:18:54
@article{e933ce78-30f6-42d5-862c-9bf0f2d718c5,
  abstract     = {{In this study, we examine and compare formal board structures and actual board behaviour in privately held SMEs. We integrate and build on ideas from institutional theory and the behavioural theory of the firm to propose that privately held firms have specific governance needs that 'decouple' formal board structures from actual board behaviour. Following this logic, we expect board structures to vary across countries while board behaviour does not. We test this in a cross–country sample of SMEs in Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway. The empirical results support the proposition that board structures are largely decoupled from actual board behaviour in privately held SMEs. Overall, the findings imply that it is possible to coordinate and disseminate board development research and practice across countries despite national differences in formal board structures.}},
  author       = {{Voordeckers, Wim and Van Gils, Anita and Gabrielsson, Jonas and Politis, Diamanto and Huse, Morten}},
  issn         = {{1477-9048}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{197--219}},
  publisher    = {{Inderscience Publishers}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics}},
  title        = {{Board structures and board behaviour: A cross-country comparison of privately held SMEs in Belgium, The Netherlands and Norway}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJBGE.2014.063279}},
  doi          = {{10.1504/IJBGE.2014.063279}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}