During the 1990s, corporate governance became a hot issue in all of the advanced economies. For decades, major business corporations had reinvested earnings and developed long-term relations with their labour forces as they expanded the scale and scope of their operations. As a result, these corporations had made themselves central to resource allocation and economic performance in the national economies in which they had evolved. Then, beginning in the 1980s and picking up momentum in the 1990s, came the contests for corporate control. Previously silent stockholders, now empowered by institutional investors, demanded that corporations be run to 'maximize shareholder value'. In this highly original book, Mary O'Sullivan provides a critical analysis of the theoretical foundations for this principle of corporate governance and for the alternative perspective that corporations should be run in the interests of 'stakeholders'. She embeds her arguments on the relation between corporate governance and economic performance in historical accounts of the dynamics of corporate growth in the United States and Germany over the course of the twentieth century. O'Sullivan explains the emergence–and consequences–of 'maximizing shareholder value' as a principle of corporate governance in the United States over the past two decades, and provides unique insights into the contests for corporate control that have unfolded in Germany over the past few years.

Sir Harry Parks was sent to Japan by W.E. Gladstone, the English Prime Minister, to gather information on Japanese papermaking. His report, along with a large selection of handmade paper was sent to England in 1871, there soon buried. Hans Schmoller was told about this important cache of historical information in the 1970s and compiled a history of Parkes, the German scientist, Engelbert Kaempfer, and accompanied the history with reprints of both the Parkes report and Kaempfer's description of Japanese papermaking, the first such report. Also reproduced are twenty full size color reproductions of Japanese watercolors depicting papermaking.

Even in the wake of the biggest financial crash of the postwar era, the United States continues to rely on Securities and Exchange Commission oversight and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which set tougher rules for boards, management, and public accounting firms to protect the interests of shareholders. Such reliance is badly misplaced. In Corporate Governance, Jonathan Macey argues that less government regulation--not more--is what's needed to ensure that managers of public companies keep their promises to investors. Macey tells how heightened government oversight has put a stranglehold on what is the best protection against malfeasance by self-serving management: the market itself. Corporate governance, he shows, is about keeping promises to shareholders; failure to do so results in diminished investor confidence, which leads to capital flight and other dire economic consequences. Macey explains the relationship between corporate governance and the various market and nonmarket institutions and mechanisms used to control public corporations; he discusses how nonmarket corporate governance devices such as boards and whistle-blowers are highly susceptible to being co-opted by management and are generally guided more by self-interest and personal greed than by investor interests. In contrast, market-driven mechanisms such as trading and takeovers represent more reliable solutions to the problem of corporate governance. Inefficient regulations are increasingly hampering these important and truly effective corporate controls. Macey examines a variety of possible means of corporate governance, including shareholder voting, hedge funds, and private equity funds. Corporate Governance reveals why the market is the best guardian of shareholder interests.

Governance and the Market for Corporate Control is a textbook for use on business courses dealing with mergers, acquisitions, governance restructuring and corporate control. Three key features distinguish this book from competing texts. First, following up on recent developments in the corporate arena, it places a heavy emphasis on managerial compensation, incentives and corporate performance. Second, its conciseness allows for flexibility of use. Third, its coverage is broad and examines many topics including: significant discussions of corporate governance power and voting managerial compensation takeovers going private transactions corporate restructuring event study methodology. As well as combining theoretical, empirical, quantitative and practitioner-oriented matter, the material in this key book provides the academic foundation necessary to ensure students’ understanding of important concepts.

This book analyzes the modern trend in the Japanese M and A market. It reveals from different perspectives the process of convergence to a new monitoring model of the corporation: "the market for corporate control". The book contains a systematic survey of all relevant economic and legal information in this field. Analysis of 17 recent cases of hostile takeover is presented.

The standard approach to the legal foundations of corporate governance is based on the view that corporate law promotes separation of ownership and control by protecting non-controlling shareholders from expropriation. This book takes a broader perspective by showing that investor protection is a necessary, but not sufficient, legal condition for the efficient separation of ownership and control. Supporting the control powers of managers or controlling shareholders is as important as protecting investors from the abuse of these powers. Rethinking Corporate Governance reappraises the existing framework for the economic analysis of corporate law based on three categories of private benefits of control. Some of these benefits are not necessarily bad for corporate governance. The areas of law mainly affecting private benefits of control – including the distribution of corporate powers, self-dealing, and takeover regulation – are analyzed in five jurisdictions, namely the US, the UK, Italy, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Not only does this approach to corporate law explain separation of ownership and control better than just investor protection; it also suggests that the law can improve the efficiency of corporate governance by allowing non-controlling shareholders to be less powerful.

A detailed look at the importance of corporate governance in today's business world The importance of corporate governance became dramatically clear at the beginning of the twenty-first century as a series of corporate meltdowns from managerial fraud, misconduct, and negligence caused a massive loss of shareholder wealth. As part of the Robert W. Kolb Series in Finance, this book provides a comprehensive view of the shareholder-manager relationship and examines the current state of governance mechanisms in mitigating the principal-agent conflict. This book also offers informed suggestions and predictions about the future direction of corporate governance. Relies on recent research findings to provide guidance through the maze of theories and concepts Uses a structured approach to put corporate governance in perspective Addresses essential issues related to corporate governance including the idea of principal-agent conflict, role of the board of directors, executive compensation, corporate monitoring, proxy contests and corporate takeovers, and regulatory intervention Corporate governance is an essential part of mainstream finance. If you need to gain a better understanding of this topic, look no further than this book.