About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

24 Law & Pol'y 441 (2002)
Corporate Governance in Japan, Germany, and Canada: What Can the U.S. Learn from Other Countries

handle is hein.journals/lawpol24 and id is 449 raw text is: Commentary: Corporate Governance in Japan, Germany, and Canada: What Can the U.S. Learn From Other Countries? CHERYL L. WADE* The articles on which I am commenting provide thorough and well-written descriptions of recent reforms or proposals for reform of corporate govern- ance principles in Japan, Germany, and Canada. Each article also provides an understanding of the corporate governance approaches now undertaken in the three countries. The conclusion I reached after reading the three pieces was that they described corporate governance approaches that may have prevented some of the dire circumstances now faced by U.S. investors and employees of companies such as Enron, WorldCom, and Adelphia. These corporations were bankrupted by fraudulent managerial conduct and corporate governance failures. Janis Sarra and Masafumi Nakahigashi de- scribe Japan's multiple stakeholder approach, and John W. Cioffi examines aspects of Germany's model of codetermination. Ronald B. Davis explores Canada's imposition of personal liability on corporate directors for the benefit of employees of insolvent companies. The three articles provide striking examples of corporate governance approaches that I believe would be less harmful to employee and community interests than the U.S. shareholder- primacy paradigm. In the aftermath of the U.S. corporate governance debacles that led to the downfall of corporate giants such as Enron and WorldCom, I expected to find in the articles a description of renewed commitment in the three countries to all that distinguishes their approach to corporate governance from corporate governance systems in the United States. I was surprised to find discussion in all three pieces of continued interest in harmonization efforts that include corporate governance reform that moves Japan, Canada, and Germany closer to the U.S. corporate governance paradigm. For example, recent reform in Japanese law provides corporations with the option to choose corporate governance approaches that are in some ways similar to those in the U.S. In part, the availability of the option to choose * Address correspondence to Cheryl L. Wade, Harold F. McNiece Professor of Law, St. John's University School of Law, Law School Building Room 4-09, Jamaica, NY 11439. Telephone: (718)990-6015; e-mail: wadec@st.johns.edu. LAW & POLICY, Vol. 24, No. 4, October 2002 ISSN 0265-8240 0 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2002, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK, and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most