When is institutional change not change? Australian corporate governance reporting practices as institutional maintenance work

Abstract

This thesis investigates the effects of the introduction of the Australian Stock Exchange s Principles of Good Corporate Governance and Best Practice Recommendations (ASX Code) in 2004. The ASX Code introduced a comply or explain reporting mechanism for the disclosure of corporate governance practices in Australia for the first time. This form of regulation has been widely adopted around the World as a form of best practice regulation.

Unlike previous research on the introduction of similar comply or explain corporate governance codes, this thesis takes a longitudinal perspective examining the reporting practices of corporations listed on the Australian Stock Exchange before and after the introduction of the new reporting requirements.

The thesis applies institutional change theory and incorporates an institutional work approach to examine changes to corporate governance regulatory systems. The analysis adopts both quantitative and qualitative research methods to best understand the phenomena of regulatory change. The results show that the introduction of the ASX Code was a modification to the existing archetype rather than a change of archetype. Hence the introduction of the ASX Code is considered an example of institutional maintenance rather than change. This finding has significant implications for both theory and practice.

This thesis provides a theoretically informed understanding of the reasons why and the effects of the introduction of the ASX Code in 2004 and how the ASX was able to restore trust in the existing institutional framework, and the enduring power of the institutional logic of regulatory capitalism.