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Abstract

This article argues that differences in the dispersion of corporate ownership help to explain why party positions on corporate governance vary across countries and over time. It shows that British, French, and German political debates over takeover regulation since the 1950s differ significantly along several dimensions, including the pattern of left–right competition and the timing of debate, and that these differences correspond to differences in the structure of corporate ownership. To explain the observed correlation, the article presumes that parties cater to their core constituents and so provides reasons explaining why ownership structure shapes the preferences of upscale socioeconomic groups and working-class clienteles. These empirical and theoretical contributions inform the literatures on party competition, corporate governance, varieties of capitalism, and institutional change.