The lower percentage of individual ownership in other countries, such as Germany and Japan, should lead to less agency problems. In these situations, there are more institutionalowners and fewer individual owners, leading to an overall smaller number of shareholdersper company. This should reduce the number of differing opinions surrounding corporategoals and actions. The increase of institutional ownership, particularly with the expertise thatcomes with participating in the market as a firm, should lead to a higher degree of agreementamongst owners and management regarding what is acceptable and what is not acceptable,especially in terms of risky projects.