Nascent Stages of Corporate Governance in an Emerging Market: Regulatory Change, Shareholder Activism and Samsung Electronics

The dynamic state of corporate governance in an emerging market is discussed through an in-depth case study of Korea's Samsung Electronics Corporation (SEC). This paper covers the influence upon SEC's corporate governance of recent regulatory changes and the efforts of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy's (PSPD), a young but influential minority shareholder activist group. It will show that corporate leaders from Korea are slowly gaining an understanding of the importance of corporate governance, but that for a variety of reasons they still remain reluctant participants, unable and unwilling to change effectively.