In East Asia, the major corporate governance issue is not how outside
financiers can control the actions of management (as it is in industrial
countries) but how outside financiers can exert control over big insider
shareholders. The extensive use of debt financing by East Asian firms did
nothing to loosen the grip of these large shareholders because the controlling
power of debt was weakened by government influence over the banking
system which reduced incentives to ensure good governance practices. Add to
that weak market and statutory regulation, legal protection of outside
shareholders that, while extensive on paper, had no enforcement muscle, high
(insider) ownership concentration and poorly competitive financial systems.
All this not only imposed high and severe costs on the economy but may have
contained the seeds of crises.