Corporate governance, ownership, and performance: A closer look at the Italian case

Corporate governance of companies is a hot topic for both researchers and practitioners since the last decades. The investigations on this theme revealed the presence of many different approaches and practices in the decision-making process and managing companies among different countries. This paper is focused on Italy, where distinctive features of corporate governance can be identified (i.e., with regard to the ownership structure of companies) due to the peculiar legal and industrial framework in which Italian companies operate. The contribution of the paper is to further shed light on the historical background of the Italian industrial sector that made the Italian industrial system slightly different from the other countries and to give a comprehensive, but synthetic, view of the corporate governance of Italian listed companies. Current and further researches needed are also commented on and suggested