Learning from the Swiss corporate governance exception

The Swiss economy represents an exception to the legal origin theory (e.g., Roe, 2006). Although Switzerland is a country belonging to the civil law family, many of its public companies have diffused corporate ownership, as do those in common law countries. This paper maintains that the Swiss exception relies on the complementarity between corporate ownership and policies addressing employment protection and innovation. The Swiss case presents two lessons. First, the current corporate governance is the result of a long and composite path in which politics plays a pivotal role; second, the institutional differences and similarities across countries, which one would try to explain along with the legal origin theory, can also emerge from politics-based accounts, such as those referring to policies on employment protection and innovation.