Paolo Santella

ESMA European Securities and Markets Authority · Credit Rating

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects on the Italian directorship network of the corporate governance reform that was introduced in Italy in 2011 to prevent interlocking directorships in the financial sector. Interlocking directorships are important communication channels among companies and may have anticompetitive effect. We apply c...

We use a new dataset composed of Italian listed firms to analyze the network of women in boards, and to evaluate their effect on company value and performance. In particular, we use Social Network Analysis to analyze the growth of the female directorship network. We find that interlocking directorate has a negative impact on equity value and firm p...

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects on the Italian directorship network of the corporate governance reform that was introduced in Italy in 2011 to prevent interlocking directorships in the financial sector. Interlocking directorships are important communication channels among companies and may have anticompetitive effect. We apply c...

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects on the Italian directorship network of the corporate governance reform that was introduced in Italy in 2011 to prevent interlocking directorships in the financial sector. Interlocking directorships are important communication channels among companies and may have anticompetitive effect. We apply c...

We analyze the effects of corporate governance reforms on interlocking directorship, and we assess the relationship between interlocking directorships and company performance for the main Italian companies listed on the Italian stock exchange over 1998-2007. We use a unique dataset that includes corporate governance variables related to the board s...

The purpose of the present paper is to contribute to the empirical literature on country interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships in the first 40 Italian, French and British Blue Chips as of December 2007 (Italy)/March 2008 (France and UK). The theoretical literature identify two possible explanations for interlocking...

We use an innovative dataset (8 years with 2,057 firms) composed of Italian listed firms to analyze the network of women in boards, and to evaluate their effect on company value and performance. In particular, we use Social Network Analysis to analyze the growth of the female directorship network. We also study the dynamics of change over time, and...

Starting from the observation that at the multilateral level shareholder activism is considered as an important aspect of good corporate governance, this paper examines several legal and economic obstacles to institutional investor activism in the EU and in the US. We find that investors in the US seem to have easier access to proxy voting than in...

We contribute to the literature on cross shareholdings and board interlocks in Italy which finds possible evidence of enlarged collusion, that is, collusion established through board interlocks among companies that do not necessarily operate in the same business sector. We focus on the Italian Blue Chips (about 80% of the total market capitalizatio...

We contribute to the literature on cross shareholdings and board interlocks in Italy which finds possible evidence of enlarged collusion, that is, collusion established through board interlocks among companies that do not necessarily operate in the same business sector. We focus on the Italian Blue Chips (about 80% of the total market capitalizatio...

Under the impulse of the G20, since the Washington Summit in November 2008, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and its members have advanced a programme of financial reforms to build a more resilient and less pro cyclical financial system. This includes the extension of the regulatory perimeter to include, among other things, the OTC derivatives m...

The European Commission followed the impulse from G20 for a coordinate response to the financial crisis by adopting a proposal for a Directive to mandate the clearing of suitable classes of OTC derivatives (the so-called EMIR proposal) and a proposal on alternative investment funds (AIFMD). However, the Commission further enlarged the regulatory pe...

In this paper we contribute to the literature on the structure of interlocking directorship networks and to the literature on the relationship between corporate governance and performance. We use a unique dataset made of corporate governance variables related to the board size and interlocking directorships of the Italian companies listed in the st...

The current literature on the Economics of Legal Harmonization consists mainly in the study of contract and corporate law with the aim of verifying whether harmonization produces efficient results within the US federal context. More recent studies have begun to examine the efficiency of the harmonization process under way within the European Union...

The Freedom of establishment for companies introduced by the Treaty of Rome left member States the freedom to define the criteria that identify the company seat and the modalities to transfer its seat. This article describes the various solutions that have been tried in the last 50 years to allow full freedom of establishment, from the initiatives...

The purpose of the present paper is to contribute to the literature on country interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships in the Italian listed companies from 1998 to 2006. We find that over the entire period a high percentage of the Italian listed companies are connected with each other through a very small minority of...

The purpose of the present paper is to contribute to the literature on country interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships in the Italian listed companies from 1998 to 2006. We find that over the entire period a high percentage of the Italian listed companies are connected with each other mainly through a very small mino...

Starting from the observation that at the multilateral level shareholder activism is considered as an important aspect of good corporate governance, this paper examines several legal and economic obstacles to institutional investor activism in the EU and in the US. We also examine the voting record of 76 institutional investors in the US and of sev...

This paper illustrates the interest for the European Private Company statute (SPE) that has been proposed by the European Commission in June 2008. According to the Commission, the SPE statute should lower the existing legal barriers for SMEs willing to extend their activity cross-border through expected cost savings in terms of simplification in th...

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature on director interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships among the Italian, French, German, UK and US listed Blue Chips. The comparison of the five countries considered shows that two national models stand out. On the one hand a model made of a high number of co...

The purpose of the present paper is to contribute to the literature on country interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships in the Italian listed companies from 1998 to 2006. We find that over the entire period a high percentage of the Italian listed companies are connected with each other through a very small minority of...

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature on director interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships among the Italian, French, German, UK and US listed Blue Chips. The comparison of the five countries considered shows that two national models stand out. On the one hand a model made of a high number of co...

The purpose of the present paper is to contribute to the empirical literature on country interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships in the first 40 Italian, French and British Blue Chips as of December 2007 (Italy/March 2008 (France and UK). The theoretical literature identifies among the possible explanations for inter...

Starting from the observation that at the multilateral level shareholder activism is considered as an important aspect of good corporate governance, this paper examines several legal and economic obstacles to institutional investor activism in the EU and in the US. We also examine the voting record of 76 institutional investors in the US and of sev...

The purpose of the present paper is to contribute to the literature on country interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships in the Italian listed companies from 1998 to 2006. We find that over the entire period a high percentage of the Italian listed companies are connected with each other through a very small minority of...

The purpose of the present paper is to contribute to the empirical literature on country interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships in the first 40 Italian, French and British Blue Chips as of December 2007 (Italy)/March 2008 (France and uk). The theoretical literature identify two possible explanations for interlockin...

This contribution sets out to identify whether, and if so to what extent, the Second Company Law Directive allows the EU Member States to introduce different means of creditor protection as suggested by the recent academic studies on the function of the legal capital and by the various existing proposals of alternative regimes. The conclusion is th...

The purpose of the present paper is to contribute to the empirical literature on country interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships in the first 40 Italian, French and British Blue Chips as of December 2007 (Italy/March 2008 (France and UK). The theoretical literature identifies among the possible explanations for inter...

The purpose of the present paper is to contribute to the literature on country interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships in the Italian listed companies from 1998 to 2006. We find that over the entire period a high percentage of the Italian listed companies are connected with each other through a very small minority of...

Starting from the observation that at the multilateral level shareholder activism is considered as an important aspect of good corporate governance, this paper examines several legal and economic obstacles to institutional investor activism in the EU and in the US. We also examine the voting record of 76 institutional investors in the US and of sev...

This paper provides a survey on studies that analyze the macroeconomic effects of intellectual property rights (IPR). The first part of this paper introduces different patent policy instruments and reviews their effects on R&D and economic growth. This part also discusses the distortionary effects and distributional consequences of IPR protection a...

The purpose of the present paper is to contribute to the literature on country interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships in the Italian listed companies from 1998 to 2006. We find that over the entire period a high percentage of the Italian listed companies are connected with each other through a very small minority of...

According to currently available evidence, the recourse to trade credit in Italy is more important than (in order) in Spain, France and Germany, and above all Northern European countries, where the shortest delays of payment are recorded. The objective of this paper is to estimate whether the different degrees of recourse to trade credit is also in...

The purpose of the present paper is to contribute to the literature on country interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships in the Italian listed companies from 1998 to 2006. We find that over the entire period a high percentage of the Italian listed companies are connected with each other mainly through a very small mino...

The purpose of the present paper is to contribute to the literature on country interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships in the Italian listed companies from 1998 to 2006. We find that over the entire period a high percentage of the Italian listed companies are connected with each other through a very small minority of...

Nel periodo 1998-2006 la grande maggioranza delle società quotate italiane è stata collegata in un'unica rete attraverso una piccola minoranza di amministratori. Un gruppo, questo, che mostra grande stabilità nel tempo e con componenti che spesso appartengono alle stesse famiglie. Assai alto il grado di connettività per le blue chips e in particola...

The purpose of the present paper is to contribute to the literature on country interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships in the Italian listed companies from 1998 to 2006. We find that over the entire period a high percentage of the Italian listed companies are connected with each other through a very small minority of...

In this article we have expanded the analysis of the new dataset we created in Santella, Paone, Drago (2005) which analysed and quantified corporate disclosure on directors formally identified as independent by the forty Italian Blue Chips. We find here a general low level of compliance with independence requirements for both financial and non-fina...

In Santella, Paone, Drago (2005) we verified, with reference to the financial year 2003, to what extent disclosure from Italian listed companies provided a minimum level of information on director independence requirements. In this paper we make the same analysis with reference to the financial year 2005. The result is a new database which verifies...

Independent directors and company disclosure in Italy Independent directors and company disclosure in Italy "Who cares about director independence?" (P

In this article, we provide an interpretation for the voluntary independence requirements contained in the Italian Corporate Governance Code (Preda Code) checking them against a proxy for international best practice, the independence criteria provided in the EC Recommendation on non-executive and supervisory directors of 2005. We then check to what...

La Commissione Preda è impegnata ad aggiornare il codice italiano di corporate governance. Intanto, i risultati di una recente ricerca rivelano che il codice non è solo inadeguato rispetto agli standard europei. E' anche molto poco rispettato. Eppure, gli amministratori indipendenti sono uno dei principali strumenti per prevenire comportamenti in d...

This is an article in memoriam of Professor Franco Romani (1935-2002). The author was among the lucky ones who had the privilege of learning from Franco Romani, a master rather than a professor who did not just teach things to his students, rather he gave them a method to approach things in life. His teaching method can be synthesised in the formul...

This study is aimed at developing new empirical models for evaluating the efficiency of bankruptcy legislations. The paper is divided in three parts. In the first part, we analyze from a conceptual point of view the effects on debtor firms of the lack of creditors' powers in bankruptcy. In the second part, we develop a new rating method for bankrup...

It is still a subject of debate whether the economic function of bankruptcy is to coordinate the insolvent company’s creditors or to leave secured creditors the possibility to foreclose the company’s residual assets. However, the bankruptcy procedure is more or less everywhere of marginal importance since it comes after the distribution of the resi...

The Italian credit unions (banche di credito cooperativo, or Bcc) can be defined as a hybrid between cooperatives and not-for-profit organizations, since their directors’ main task is to guarantee the concession of loans to all the economic categories represented amidst the owners. Following the recent liberalization of the Italian Banking market,...

Starting from the Contribution from Ronald Coase, the modern theoretical literature tends to identify the firm with the hierarchic coordination of the workforce, opposed to the coordination of the production factors operated by the market. Other authors prefer to concentrate on the entrepreneur instead of the firm. Starting from the organization pu...