While scholars in business, management, accounting and finance frequently use data on the ownership and control structure of companies in their research, we show that determining this structure for a UK public limited company using publicly available information can be fraught with a number of difficulties. The latest changes to the UK Listing rules following the Hill Review (2021) may further exacerbate these difficulties via the potential increase in listed companies with dual-class shares. With the help of case studies and further empirical work, we demonstrate some of the methodological challenges faced by researchers. We provide guidance on how to tackle these challenges.

虽然商业、管理、会计和金融领域的学者在研究中经常使用有关公司所有权和控制结构的数据，但我们表明，使用公开信息确定英国上市有限公司的这种结构可能会充满许多困难。《希尔审查》（2021 年）之后英国上市规则的最新变化可能会因拥有双重股权的上市公司数量的增加而进一步加剧这些困难。在案例研究和进一步的实证研究的帮助下，我们展示了研究人员面临的一些方法论挑战。我们提供有关如何应对这些挑战的指导。