In this paper we examine the relation between corporate governance and stock market liquidity around the world where different legal institutions are present. We conjecture that better internal corporate governance is more useful and effective in reducing information asymmetry and thereby increasing stock market liquidity in countries with inferior legal and regulatory environments for shareholder right protection. Consistent with this prediction, we find that liquidity tends to be higher for firms with better internal corporate governance in countries with poor legal and regulatory environments for shareholder right protection (e.g., German civil law countries). In contrast, we find that the relation between internal governance and stock liquidity is not statistically significant in countries with relatively strong shareholder protection laws.
Keywords: Corporate governance; Price impact; Market liquidity; Legal origins

