Markets for capital, products and managerial talent are expanding rapidly across national borders, yet domestic laws and practices have never had greater impact on corporate structures and cross-border deals. Investors, entrepreneurs and managers now routinely face counterparts who operate within different legal systems and who do not share similar social priorities. This dynamic tension between global markets and domestic institutions fuels the debate on corporate-governance reform raging worldwide.;It also frames the intellectual agenda of the contributors to this volume, who examine such issues as the possible convergence of corporate-governance practices around the world, national variations in the quality of corporate law, and the fiduciary responsibilities that managers of ""international"" corporations owe to their stakeholders. Case studies focus on France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.