It has become commonplace among corporate governance scholars and practitioners alike that company law and regulations are an important ingredient for a good corporate governance regime. International organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have actively promoted this view since the 1990s through their policy advice; meanwhile influential academics have provided the trend with scientific justification. However, recent research finds that law does matter for corporate governance outcomes in