Tres ensayos sobre redes sociales y gobierno de la empresa

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation is a compilation of three essays about the study of social networks maintained by Spanish listed companies through interlocking relationships of directors during the period 1999-2008. The first article analyzes its evolution and shows a loss of importance of the banks and the existence of a less dense and more fragmented network in recent years. The second one, following the Law and Finance approach, includes a comparative analysis between the networks of Spain and the United Kingdom in 2009, showing a convergence between Continental European and Anglo-Saxon models. Finally, the third one studies the relationship between these networks and the firm performance, following a quadratic pattern; low levels of relationships means private benefits hurting firm performance, but high levels of relationships will represent increases in the firm performance.