Corporate ownership and internationalization: The effects of family, bank and institutional investor ownership in the UK and in Continental Europe

Abstract

While the role of corporate governance has been increasingly analysed during recent years, it is only very recently that the effects of corporate governance features on firm international strategies have been also considered. Using the Osiris database by Bureau van Djik we consider the potential role played by different kind of shareholders among the determinants of firm international level, distinguishing between the firms quoted in the UK from those listed in countries of Continental Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain). Overall our results confirm that different kind of ownerships affect with different degree of intensity the overall level of firm'sinternationalization. First, we find that ownership matter. Second, our results show that theeffects of ownership over firm's international strategies depend also on the context of analysis.