Hard Lessons in Corporate Governance

Examines how and why modern corporate governance practices fail to deliver better economic, managerial, environmental, or social outcomes.

Bryce C. Tingle (Author)

9781009170611, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 May 2024

316 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.2 cm, 0.59 kg

How should corporations be run? Who should get a say, and what results can we expect? Hard Lessons in Corporate Governance provides an accessible introduction to the various failed attempts at using corporate governance to improve society. It introduces the record of these failures and illuminates hard lessons spread across thousands of empirical studies. If we look at the outcomes generated by various corporate governance 'best' practices, we find that none of the practices work. If we look at the theories and assumptions that support modern corporate governance, we find they are likely wrong. And if we look at the prospect of corporate governance to improve political, environmental, and social outcomes, we find ample evidence that governance will fail us here too. After documenting these failures, Bryce Tingle K.C. turns to the most important lesson: How to fix this important, but broken, system.

Introduction
1. Our corporate governance experiment
Part I. What do We Know About Corporate Governance practices: 2. Best practices for boards of director
3. Can we measure corporate governance
4. Do we understand executive compensation best practices
5. What explains shareholder voting
6. Shareholder activism
7. Proxy advisors
Part II. What can We Conclude About Our Theories of Corporate Governance: 8. Taking stock of the argument so far: we need a better theory of the firm
9. How crooked is the timber
10. Markets and corporate governance
Part III. Are Social Welfare Outcomes any Different: 11. Achieving social and environmental goals through corporate governance
12. Shareholders and ESG disclosure
13. Where do we go from here.

Subject Areas: Company, commercial & competition law [LNC]