Skip to main content

Agency Costs and Corporate Governance

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics and the Law

Abstract

Agency cost theory deals with the inevitable divergence of self interest between principal and agent, owner and manager, or employer and employee, the welfare losses thereby created, and the devices and institutions that have evolved to reduce those losses. In the context of the corporate enterprise, there are quite a few such mechanisms, intended to align the interests of managers or controlling owners with those of outside stockholders or to limit the extent of divergence.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 549.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 379.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Bibliography

  • Abarbanell, J. and Bernard, V. 1995. Is the US stock market myopic? Working Paper, University of Michigan Business School.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aoki, M. 1994. Monitoring characteristics of the main bank system: an analytical and developmental view. In M. Aoki and H. Patrick, The Japanese Main Bank System, New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baums, T. 1996. Universal banks and investment companies in Germany. In Universal Banking: Financial System Design Reconsidered, ed. A. Saunders and I. Walter, Chicago: Irwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berle, A., Jr. and Means, G.C. 1932. The Modern Corporation and Private Property. New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Institutional Investment Report. 1997. New York: The Conference Board.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, M. and Meckling, W. 1976. Theory of the firm: managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics 3: 305–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, S. 1994a. Top executives, turnover, and firm performance in Germany. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 10: 142–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, S. 1994b. Top executive rewards and firm performance: a comparison of Japan and the United States. Journal of Political Economy 102: 510–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silane, F., Shleifer, A. and Vishny, R. 1997. Legal determinants of external finance. Working Paper 5879, Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Y.K. 1996. Corporate governance in Korea: the structure and issues. Working Paper, Korea Development Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pistor, K. 1997. Co-determination in Germany. Working Paper, Cambridge, MA: Harvard Institute for International Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roe, M. 1994. Strong Managers, Weak Owners: The Political Roots of American Corporate Finance. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sheard, P. 1997. Financial system reform and Japanese corporate governance. Working Paper, Tokyo: Baring Asset Management (Japan) Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shleifer, A. and Vishny, R. 1996. A survey of corporate governance. Journal of Finance 52: 739–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, O.E. 1985. The Economic Institutions of Capitalism. New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2002 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

About this entry

Cite this entry

Scott, K.E. (2002). Agency Costs and Corporate Governance. In: Newman, P. (eds) The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics and the Law. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-74173-1_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-74173-1_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-333-99756-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-74173-1

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave History Collection

Publish with us

Policies and ethics