We blend the corporate governance and the financial structure/legal system literature
streams to study whether firm performance is enhanced when its governance structure
embodies the demands of the host country’s financial structure and legal system. Using
a sample of 1736 unique firms representing 22 countries, we find that the joint effect of
a country’s financial structure and legal system does matter when explaining the relationship
between performance and the overall level of corporate governance in a given country.
The results also suggest that firms operating in the market/common combination countries
tend to command higher market valuations than firms with a comparable level of corporate
governance that operate in the bank/civil combination countries.