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Synthesis Report International Conference on Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets Istanbul, Sabanci University 15-17 November 2007 Melsa Ararat, Stijn Claessens, and Burcin Yurtoglu 1. Background The First International Conference on Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets is built on the work of an informal research network supported by the Global Corporate Governance Forum (GCGF). The network was kicked off by the one-day workshop on the Future of Research on Corporate Governance in Developing and Emerging Markets at the World Bank in April 2002. The network has evolved over the years with support from GCGF as it has financed the organization of one global and five regional meetings. The network was reinvigoration in 2007 with the preparations for the First International Conference. A Call for Papers was issued with contribution from both senior scholars of the Network- focusing on research gaps and practitioners- focusing on priorities for practice. The conference was held in November 16-19, 2007 with participation of more than 100 researchers from 30 countries. The objective of the conference was to take stock of ongoing research on corporate governance in emerging markets and the expanding research in developing countries. More than 40 academic papers were presented and discussed and 4 keynote speeches were delivered. It attracted researchers from all key emerging markets and brought them together with internationally acknowledged senior members of the network. Unique was the involvement of GCGF’s Private Sector Advisory Group (PSAG) members as reflective practitioners which facilitated a lively debate between scholars and practitioners. 2. Conference summary The conference addressed two sets of broad issues: the impact of corporate governance on various aspects—valuation, performance, access to finance, etc—at both the country- and firm-level; and the impact and the drivers of corporate governance reforms, what is their effects, why d