Did culture have an impact on Tunisian corporate governance system?

Abstract

Numerous research works on corporate governance have been undertaken while only few attentions have been devoted to the study of cultural component. The aim of this research is precisely to contribute to the necessary renewal of corporate governance by attempting to highlight some crucial features and issues related to the impact of culture on Tunisian corporate governance system. Based on cultural dimensions of Hofstede (1980), we try to identify the impact of culture on Tunisian corporate governance system. We argue that the characteristics of Tunisian corporate governance system such as ownership concentration, inactivity of hostile takeover market, one-tier board system, limited transparency of information and underdevelopment of financial market, reflect the Tunisian culture.