Cultural Norms and Company Laws in Europe by Janice Dean-Associate Professor of Law. University of Warwick- UK
Abstract
This article examines the EU Member States with the largest economies, the UK, Italy, France and Germany. The work will consider the relationship between company law rules and national cultures in these varied systems. It will consider whether the current diversity of laws is likely to endure. This article examines the four European Union Member States with the largest national economies by GDP, namely Germany, France, the UK and Italy. The work will consider how their company law rules relate to their national cultures. Broadly, two of the countries under consideration here are Southern European and mainly Catholic in culture, namely France and Italy, while the other two, the UK and Germany, are Northern European with mainly Protestant cultures. The countries are diverse in terms of their economic structures, particularly average company size and the use of capital markets by business, even though the sizes of the national economies are similar. This study will seek to explain and explore the diversity of company laws between those nations. It will also consider whether it is likely to endure, in the EU political context and under pressure from increasing economic globalisation.
Available on http://www.ijbssnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_5_March_2012/32.pdf
