
The research team led by Prof. Basco Rodrigo at American University of Sharjah has published the “Ownership Concentration in Listed Firms in the Gulf Cooperation Council: Implications for Corporate Governance”. This report sheds light on the current corporate structures in the GCC region by examining the ownership concentration and ownership identity of listed firms in the region. An ownership structure is important because it may, on the one hand, reduce possible conflicts of interest between managers and shareholders, while, on the other hand, it may increase the likelihood of large shareholders extracting private benefits of control at the expense of minority shareholders. Thus, the level of ownership concentration may encourage or discourage minority and international investors to invest in firms in the region.