Corporate governance is an institutional arrangement that not only addresses the agency problem between shareholders and managers of the firm, but also provides the context for the decisions taken by the top management of the firm. In this context, the main question is whether ownership types influence corporate governance practices of firms. This research empirically studies corporate governance and disclosure practices of firms segregated according to types of ownership, i.e., foreign firms, private sector firms and public sector firms. Such firms are diverse entities with different management philosophy, responsibility and structure. This research focuses on firms across various sectors listed on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and seeks to identify whether corporate governance and disclosure practices of foreign firms, private sector and public sector firms are significantly different. The research also emphasizes the salient features of firms according to ownership types. The findings shed light on the governance and disclosure practices of firms segregated according to ownership types in the legal and institutional environment of India.

Corporate governance is the system by which firms are directed and controlled. The corporate governance structure specifies the distribution of rights and responsibilities among different stakeholders in the system, such as the board, managers, shareholders and spells out the rules and procedures for making decisions on corporate affairs. Thus, corporate governance provides an ethical process as well as well-defined structure through which the objectives of the firm, the means of attaining such objectives, and systems of monitoring performance are also set.

As such corporate governance is an institutional arrangement that not only addresses the agency problem between shareholders and managers of the firm, but also provides the context for the decisions taken by the top management of the firm. In this context, the fundamental objective of a corporate governance framework is to identify a basis for strategic cooperation between shareholders and managers of the firm such that the agency problem is reduced and a basis for decisions that promote the competitiveness of the firm is provided.

Corporate Governance Journal, Relationship, Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Ownership Types, Corporate Governance, Disclosure Practices, Firms, Multinational Corporations (MNCs), Indian Stock Exchange.