Codes of corporate governance from a theoretical and practical perspective: An example from Iceland

• Main Authors: Steinþórsson, Runólfur Smári, Sigurjónsson, Þröstur Olaf
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Research in applied business and economics 2022
• Subjects: Corporate governance; agency theory; stakeholder theory; laws and regulation; governance codes and guidelines; G34; M1; L1; L2; Stjórnarhættir fyrirtækja; umboðskenning; hagsmunaaðilakenning; lög og reglur; leiðbeiningar um stjórnarhætti; Iceland
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/efnahagsmal/article/view/a.2022.19.1.5

Corporate governance has established itself as an independent research field in recent decades. Initially, research on governance was limited to the theoretical elaboration and development and to solve the problem of agency and control that arose when business owners began to hire professional executives to lead their companies. Later, governance theories also began to revolve around communication with other stakeholders. At the same time, stakeholders were beginning to place more emphasis on the legal framework of governance and governance guidelines, not least because the problems and risks posed by governance are in fact manifested through losses when companies fall due to misconduct. This article sheds light on the development of guidelines on governance. On the one hand, insight is provided into theoretical research on corporate governance from the perspectives of shareholders, stakeholders, legal aspects and on guidelines of corporate governance. On the other hand, attention is focused on the practical aspects of governance where a study is made of the development of guidelines on corporate governance in Iceland. First the content of the guidelines on corporate governance is reviewed, and second all versions of the Icelandic guidelines that have been published in the last 17 years are studied in more detail, six versions. Initially, since 2004, the emphasis has been on guidelines for shareholders, the board and directors. After the collapse of the financial sector in 2008, more emphasis was placed on guidelines regarding board members and the provision of information to the community, in addition to further stipulating the role of the board. In recent years, most attention has been paid to the development of guidelines regarding the work of sub-committees and the position of those committees vis - à - vis shareholders, the board and the executive board. Stjórnarhættir fyrirtækja hafa fest sig í sessi sem sjálfstætt fag á síðustu áratugum. Fyrst í stað voru rannsóknir á stjórnarháttum afmarkaðar við þróun ...