Transferring Corporate Governance Codes: Form or Substance? Corporate Governance in Hungary

This article examines the transfer of the OECD corporate governance code to Hungary. It documents the process of code transmission, and assesses its impact through an examination of corporate governance in the three largest Hungarian private companiesMagyar Telekom, MOL and OTP. The article illustrates the disjuncture between formal commitment to code adoption and its effective implementation, with a case study of the abortive takeover bid by OMV for MOL in 2007-2008. The reasons for the disjuncture are related to national and corporate contextual conditions, management incentives and the channels of transmission.