Ownership, control, group affiliations, and wealth concentration: The case of a developing market

The aim of this paper is to assess ownership and control Jordanian listed firms by identifying group affiliations, control-enhancing mechanisms, the wealth controlling owners. Hand-collected data for 237 on Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) used identify ultimate owners, construct affiliated groups, compute separation between cash flow rights created pyramid structures cross-holdings. findings indicate that more than one-third are group-affiliated, majority controlled families then foreigners a small number state. They also family foreign investors use pyramids enhance their business groups creating wedge with pronounced among firms. In addition, top owners at least 22% corporate assets half being exercised originating from Gulf region. latter finding has important implications regarding ongoing impact Arab capital formation in Middle East North Africa (MENA)