primary objectives ofthis thesis are: (i) to review the ongoing practices of corporate governance in six developed and emerging markets that represent a broad and diverse sample that varies in terms of historical, légal, économie and cultural Systems; (ii) to assess comprehensively the effectiveness of corporate governance in a unique developing country, Saudi Arabia; and (iii) to identify whether there are significant différences in the perceptions among the involved four samples (board of directors' members, chief executive officers 'CEOs', audit committee members and shareholders) towards the four mechanisms of corporate governance investigated in this study, namely: shareholders' rights; board of directors; audit committees and internai audit; and disclosure and transparency.