2.2 Board structures and board committees

Both unitary and dual board structures are observed in the countries of this study: the United Kingdom (unitary), the Netherlands (dual) and Sweden (mixed form).1 Unitary board structures are common in the Anglo-Saxon world, whereas dual board structures are more often applied in continental European countries. Since board independence within a unitary board structure cannot completely be compared with board independence in a dual board structure, this section elaborates both on structures and their differences. Therefore subsection 2.2.1 gives a description of both board structures; subsection 2.2.2 describes the differences and additionally focuses on the convergence that has been observed. Finally, subsection 2.2.3 elaborates on different board committees.