Ownership and control structure and corporate performance in the main capital markets in latin america

This study aims to evaluate in which extend the ownership and control structure of public companies impacts corporate performance in the main capital markets in Latin America (Argentina, Brazil and Chile) between 2008 and 2012. In this sense, analysis in form of panel of the relationships between structure and performance was conducted through simple regressions with pooled, and a multiple model with controls for size and liquidity. The results indicate that Brazil has the lower ownership concentration, nonetheless when considered control structure, losses its position to Chile. Considering the relationship between concentration and performance, in which country one variable exhibit a significant relation as follows: equity return in Argentina (+), market-to-book in Brazil (-) and EBITDA in Chile (+). In the overall, only market-to-book evidences a negative relationship (-) and all relations are impacted by the size and liquidity of the company. Ultimately, stands out as this study contributions the investigation and comparison of the ownership structure in Latin America and the identification of negative relations with company's performance.