本研究延伸過去文獻，欲瞭解在絕對大股東具控制權且無實質干涉管理決策時，歐洲企業之績效如何被第二大股東所影響。本研究從ORBIS蒐集奧地利、比利時、法國、德國、荷蘭、西班牙與葡萄牙之公開發行公司資料。在控制公司規模、行業別與國家別後，發現若歐洲企業之絕對大股東為機構投資人，其第二大股東或影子股東（shadow owner）與公司績效具顯著關聯。而影子股東是否為其他企業之第二大股東、銀行或家族/個體，會影響此統計關聯的方向與顯著性。本研究為首篇以實證證據解釋，當絕對大股東為機構投資人時，股權結構對企業績效之影響。本研究對投資人深具參考價值，可幫助了解機構投資人外之股權類型及其運作方式之重要性，尤其影子股東持股已然成為企業績效之主要影響因素。

This study seeks to extend the literature on how a Continental European firm's performance is impacted by the second largest investor when its dominant owner has a capacity to control but is not actually involved in its management. Using data gathered from ORBIS for publicly-traded firms from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal, and controlling for firm size, industrial sector and country-specific factors, we find statistical support for a relationship between ownership of the second largest or shadow owner and performance for firms in which an institutional investor was the dominant owner. This statistical relationship varied in direction and significance depending on whether the shadow owner was a block (another corporation), bank or family/individual. The findings in this study represent first time evidence to explain the seemingly unrelated association between CE firm performance and ownership share when an institution is the largest owner. The findings also speak to investors about the importance of identifying the type of owner filling the control vacuum left by the institutional owner, and how for each of these ownership types, the share of the shadow owner now becomes the main link with firm performance.