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Corporate Finance and Governance

Corporate Finance and Governance is a research topic within Accounting. Science Explorer counts 93k research works in it since 1950. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the relationship between corporate governance, investor protection, ownership structure, financial constraints, and their impact on firm performance, dividend policy, capital structure, board composition, and the role of institutional investors in mergers and acquisitions. It also investigates the influence of managerial traits, CEO characteristics, and the preferences of institutional investors on corporate financial policies.

  • Corporate Governance
  • Investor Protection
  • Ownership Structure
  • Financial Constraints
  • Firm Performance
  • Dividend Policy
  • Capital Structure
  • Board Composition
  • Institutional Investors
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
Research works
93k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
9.3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+1%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
32% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Corporate Finance and Governance

Which countries lead Corporate Finance and Governance research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (3.8k and 2.9k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 3.8k works
  2. 2 United States 2.9k works
  3. 3 Indonesia 1.3k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 928 works
  5. 5 India 918 works
  6. 6 Australia 502 works
  7. 7 Germany 437 works
  8. 8 Italy 432 works
  9. 9 Nigeria 409 works
  10. 10 Türkiye 396 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 31.5%United States: 23.9%Indonesia: 11.0%United Kingdom: 7.7%6 others listed: 25.8%32%largest
China3,776 · 31.5%United States2,863 · 23.9%Indonesia1,317 · 11.0%United Kingdom928 · 7.7%6 others listed3,095 · 25.8%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Corporate Finance and Governance research?

By volume in 2022-now, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics publishes the most Corporate Finance and Governance research, followed by Renmin University of China and Central University of Finance and Economics.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Southwestern University of Finance and EconomicsChina 90 works
  2. 2 Renmin University of ChinaChina 77 works
  3. 3 Central University of Finance and EconomicsChina 75 works
  4. 4 Xiamen UniversityChina 74 works
  5. 5 Nigerian Defence AcademyNigeria 70 works
  6. 6 Zhongnan University of Economics and LawChina 70 works
  7. 7 Shanghai University of Finance and EconomicsChina 63 works
  8. 8 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 61 works
  9. 9 University of International Business and EconomicsChina 55 works
  10. 10 Peking UniversityChina 51 works

Who are the leading researchers in Corporate Finance and Governance?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Corporate Finance and Governance include Jun Wang, Stephen S Lim and Eugene F. Fama.

  1. 1 Jun Wang China 340k citations
  2. 2 Stephen S Lim United States 294k citations
  3. 3 Eugene F. Fama United States 262k citations
  4. 4 Andrei Shleifer United States 234k citations
  5. 5 Michael C. Jensen United States 203k citations
  6. 6 Harry Eugene Stanley United States 198k citations
  7. 7 David F. Larcker United States 197k citations
  8. 8 Bruce Leonard Miller United States 196k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Corporate Finance and Governance?

The most cited paper in Corporate Finance and Governance is "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds" (Eugene F. Fama, Kenneth R. French, 1993), with 28,079 citations. Next come "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have" (19,433) and "Law and Finance" (18,396).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds Eugene F. Fama, Kenneth R. French · Journal of Financial Economics Feb 1993 28,079
2 Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have Stewart C. Myers, Nicholas S. Majluf · Journal of Financial Economics Jun 1984 19,433
3 Law and Finance Rafael La Porta, Florencio López‐de‐Silanes, Andrei Shleifer et al. · Journal of Political Economy Dec 1998 18,396
4 The Cross‐Section of Expected Stock Returns Eugene F. Fama, Kenneth R. French · The Journal of Finance Open access Jun 1992 15,123
5 Determinants of corporate borrowing Stewart C. Myers · Journal of Financial Economics Nov 1977 13,558
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Corporate Finance and Governance research done?

The largest centres of Corporate Finance and Governance research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Jakarta (Indonesia) and London (United Kingdom). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Kaduna.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 642 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 322 works
  3. 3 JakartaIndonesia 258 works
  4. 4 LondonUnited Kingdom 238 works
  5. 5 WuhanChina 206 works
  6. 6 GuangzhouChina 202 works
  7. 7 ChengduChina 199 works
  8. 8 SeoulSouth Korea 196 works
  9. 9 NanjingChina 178 works
  10. 10 Hong KongChina 169 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. KadunaNG · 78.2 works35×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Corporate Finance and Governance than the world average.

See Corporate Finance and Governance on the map

Where is the best place to study Corporate Finance and Governance?

Among universities, judged by research, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Central University of Finance and Economics and Renmin University of China score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 18.33%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Zhongnan University …Renmin University of…Central University o…Southwestern Univers…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Southwestern University of Finance and EconomicsChina 63.411.0%39.9×90 +81.2%
2Central University of Finance and EconomicsChina 63.213.9%41.8×75 +41.9%
3Renmin University of ChinaChina 62.914.0%14.9×77 +54.9%
4Zhongnan University of Economics and LawChina 62.216.1%43.8×70 +79.8%
5Excelia Business SchoolFrance 62.132.8%46.5×11 +187.8%
6University of International Business and EconomicsChina 61.315.8%36.9×55 +42.2%
7King Faisal UniversitySaudi Arabia 61.326.2%4.9×19 +695.3%
8Shanghai University of Finance and EconomicsChina 60.415.0%39.5×63 +69.8%
9University of SfaxTunisia 58.918.8%10.8×42 +9.9%
10University of Business and TechnologySaudi Arabia 58.419.7%15.5×23 +104.6%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Corporate Finance and Governance, country by country

Is Corporate Finance and Governance research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 1% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2023. The fastest-growing topics are Corporate Finance and Governance.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Corporate Finance and Governance as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.081% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%0.15%Corporate Finance and Governance0.070% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Corporate Finance and Governance over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Corporate Finance and Governance10.1% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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