Agency Theory - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Sep 2011
News

Capitalism’s False Mantra

Related Links Martin discussing his book One of the most influential papers defining the role of business, “Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs and Ownership Structure,” was coauthored in 1976 by Michael Jensen, the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information; Management

11 Aug 2009
First Look

First Look: August 11, 2009

Value: An Examination of Equity Betas and Bid-Ask Spreads Authors:Edward J. Riedl and George Serafeim Abstract Finance theory suggests that information risk—that is, the uncertainty regarding valuation parameters for an underlying... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

26 Feb 2013
First Look

First Look: Feb. 26

Puzzle of Private Investment in State-Controlled Firms Authors:Pargendler, Mariana, Aldo Musacchio, and Sergio G. Lazzarini Abstract A large legal and economic literature describes how state-owned enterprises (SOEs) suffer from a variety of View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: Dec. 14

knowledge and value creation are distributed across many actors. We propose a theory of IP modularity based on value maximization net of transaction and agency costs. We then use case examples to extend the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 17

Pay-for-Performance: Implications for the Strategic Compensation of Employees Authors:Ian Larkin, Lamar Pierce, and F. Gino Abstract Most research linking compensation to strategy relies on agency theory... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

An Emerging Entrepreneur | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

program for children, and VincuVentas, a tech-based talent agency for sales professionals. Bichara is quick to note the Social Enterprise Initiative’s backing over that summer and as he heads back to his native Mexico with a Social... View Details

15 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 15, 2017

Attributing moral agency to business enterprises may be thought to avoid this controversy given that most theories of morality recognize positive duties on the part of all moral agents to help others even if... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 May 2010
First Look

First Look: May 11

Standard theories of corporate ownership assume that because markets are efficient, insiders ultimately bear agency costs and therefore have a strong incentive to minimize conflicts of interest with outside... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2022
Case

Business Roundtable 2019 Statement: A New Paradigm or Business as Usual?

By: Charles C.Y. Wang and Amram Migdal

This note focuses on the antecedents of, reactions to, and clarifications about The Business Roundtable’s August 19, 2019, “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation.” The note includes background information on corporate governance as practiced in the United States in... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Business History; Mission and Purpose; Agency Theory; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; United States

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26 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 26

in State-Controlled Firms By: Pargendler, Mariana, Aldo Musacchio, and Sergio G. Lazzarini Abstract—A large legal and economic literature describes how state-owned enterprises (SOEs) suffer from a variety of agency and political problems.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 15

global cash flows: to achieve resource independence from other state actors. In the context of state-owned entities, the power-use hypothesis of standard resource dependence theory can be used to analyze the dependence of SOEs on other... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Sep 2015
News

Alumni and Faculty Books for September 2015

Avenue Manslaughter: An Inside View of Fee-Cutting Clients, Profit-Hungry Owners, and Declining Ad Agencies by Michael Farmer (MBA 1971) (Lid Publishing) Farmer, formerly a director of Bain & Company, describes the key trends that have... View Details

Student-Profile

Talia Gillis

consumer finance. I am interested in how the market and regulatory structure impact the way people interact with financial institutions and engage in financial transactions. The study of the process by which regulators adopt policies, and the implicit View Details

28 Nov 2012
What Do You Think?

Should Pay-for-Performance Compensation be Replaced?

compensation at least since proponents of agency theory 25 years ago began advocating the use of stock options in compensation packages. Its use is a source of praise in the evaluation of governance by... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

20 Feb 2007
First Look

First Look: February 20, 2007

that the tire grading system was close to becoming a reality. Second, Joan Claybrook, a former Nader consumer interest group lobbyist, had just become head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the agency within the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

06 Feb 2007
First Look

First Look: February 6, 2007

Working PapersThe Rise of Business Forecasting Agencies in the United States Author:Walter A. Friedman Abstract This paper analyzes the rise of business and economic forecasting agencies in the United... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

31 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 31, 2009

the "opportunistic behavior" hypothesis, private equity firms have higher quality accruals and a lower propensity to manage income than public equity firms. We further find that public equity firms report more conservatively, in line with their greater... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

22 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Not Your Father’s State-Run Capitalism

to correct that market failure by investing in minority stakes in private companies or lending at subsidized rates to such firms." At the same time, many Communist and former Communist countries have gone to great lengths to overcome the View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

14 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

The New Measures for Improving Nonprofit Performance

smart decisions will be made as to where available money is allocated. But the impact will be severe and cause a lot of change in the sector. Ebrahim: The conversation about results and performance management is occurring globally, not just here in the United States.... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

January 1996 (Revised December 2005)
Case

First Community Bank (A)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

First Community Bank, a bank-within-a-bank at Bank of Boston, was established in 1990 as a unique venture to serve urban communities. By 1995 it has achieved profitability but must manage relationships with the mainstream at Bank of Boston, serve as a change agent and... View Details