Hard Lessons in Corporate Governance

For forty years we've repeatedly reformed the way we run corporations. Yet research suggests these reforms have not only failed but have made many things worse. This book examines how and why modern governance practices fail, especially when advanced as solutions to serious political and social problems.

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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.