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.