CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN ARGENTINEAN SMES: ANALYSIS OF THE QUOTATION PANELS

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the characteristics of corporate governance in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) issuing securities in the capital markets of Argentina, in two sectors of negotiation: general regime and SME regime. The existence of significant differences between both interest groups is studied in a bivariate way using the Pearson Exact test for binary variables and the Kruskal Wallis test for continuous variables. Subsequently, the  robustness of the significant variables is analyzed using a regression of ordinary least squares with control variables. The companies under both regimes do not present differences in terms of shareholder structure, CEO duality, characteristics of the external auditor, and participation of women in the property, board of directors and senior management. The share dispersion is low and there is a high concentration of ownership in the main direct shareholder. The participation of women is low in the property, the board of directors and senior management. As a significant difference, it can be observed that in the general regime, companies present boards and management teams with an average of one more member.