How to Contribute to the Development of a Global Understanding of Corporate Governance? Reflections from Submitted and Published Articles in CGIR

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8683.2011.00866.x
• Author: Alessandro Zattoni,Hans Van Ees
• Date: 01 January 2012
• Published date: 01 January 2012

How to Contribute to the Development of

a Global Understanding of Corporate

Governance? Ref‌lections from Submitted and

Published Articles in CGIR

Alessandro Zattoni* and Hans Van Ees

ABSTRACT

Manuscript Type: Review

Research Question/Issue: The article starts as a ref‌lection on the criteria that articles submitted to CGIR should respect in

order to pass the screening and referee procedures. Beyond that, the article explores the characteristics of all articles, and

particularly of best paper and runner up articles, published recently in the journal. As such the article may be a guide for

publishing in the journal and for contributing to the development of a global theory of corporate governance.

Research Findings/Insights: The article is based on both personalref‌lections of the two screening editors of the journal, and

the analysisof all screening decisions taken in 2009, all articles published in the journal in 2008–10, and best papersand runner

up articles in 2007–09. Results shows that (1) the most important reasons for desk rejection are the failure to build the paper

on the extant literature addressing international corporate governance, a problematic structure of the paper together with

substantial editing problems, and the quality of the data collection procedure; (2) the majority of articles published in the

journal use both a legal, f‌inance, and economic theoretical framework, and a quantitative research method to analyze how

governance mechanisms controlvalue distribution at f‌irm level; (3) best papers and runner up articles have richer theoretical

frameworks, more eclectic research methods, and pay explicit attention to the relevancefor theory and practice.

Theoretical/Academic Implications: The article emphasizes the importance to balance rigor and relevance to enhance the

global understanding of corporate governance.

Practitioner/Policy Implications: The results of the study may be of practical importance for the scholars of various

disciplines that wantto submit articles to the journal. The ideas contained in this article can help them to ref‌ine their articles

before the submission to increase the rate of acceptance in the review process and hopefully the publication in the journal.

Moreover, we underline that moving forward a global theory of corporate governance could assist practitioners and/or

policy makers in developing more eff‌icient governance mechanisms.

Keywords: Corporate Governance Theories, Research Designs, Governance Environments

INTRODUCTION

Given the increasing competitive environment for aca-

demic publications, editorial teams devote consider-

able time and effort to develop the mission of the journal

they manage. To be successful, the mission should empha-

size a unique positioning of the journal in the academic

arena and should be clear and simple for submitters.

The mission of Corporate Governance: An International

Review (CGIR) is “to publish cutting-edge research on the

phenomena of comparative corporate governance through-

out the global economy. CGIR acts as a forum for the

exchange of information, insights, and knowledge based

on both theoretical development and practical experience.

It is committed to publishing rigorous and relevant

research on corporate governance, so that the practice of

corporate governance can be inf‌luenced and improved

throughout the world” (CGIR website). In extreme synthe-

sis, the aim of the journal is challenging as CGIR aims at

developing “a global theory of corporate governance that is

*Address for correspondence: Management Department, Parthenope University and

Strategic and Entrepreneurial ManagementDepartment, SDA Bocconi School of Man-

agement, Via Bocconi 8, 20136 Milano, Italy. Tel: +39-02-5836-2527; Fax: +39-02-5836-

2530; E-mail: alessandro.zattoni@unibocconi.it

106

Corporate Governance: An International Review, 2012, 20(1): 106–118

© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8683.2011.00866.x