PROF. MARC GOERGEN ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

I use my research to analyze how the levels of trust in a society impact shareholder voting.  Trust lies under all business relations. While contracts may tie us together and can be helpful in specifying the rights and obligations of signatories in specific situations, a contract can never really cover every eventuality. Thus, at the end of the day, there is trust – and it is necessary when entering into a contractual relationship with a new counterparty. Ultimately, trust enables strangers to work together and to produce goods and services. At the global level, high levels of trust may explain why some countries have been striving economically while others are stuck in what economists call a low-trust poverty trap. Please see here for details.

In my latest publication for the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management , I define sustainable corporate governance  as follows: "Sustainable corporate governance is the set of arrangements that ensure that the firm focuses on maximizing long-term shareholder value, which goes hand in hand with the consideration of broader stakeholder interests in the firm’s decision-making. The focus on long-term shareholder value creation not only enhances the survival of the firm in the long run, but it also promotes the preservation of the firm’s ecosystem." I then review the literature on whether and how different types of shareholders promote sustainable corporate governance in their investee firms. Read more here . Source:   Goergen, M. (2022), ‘Governance through Ownership and Sustainable Corporate Governance’, in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management , Oxford University Press, https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190224851.013.370 .

Separating the roles of the CEO and the chair of the board of directors is considered best practice by many regulators, but should this be? Professor Marc Goergen draws from his research to discuss how combining the two roles can affect a firm’s leadership and shareholder value. Please read more here . 

Coverage of my research on board diversity and renewable energy consumption by Portuguese newspaper Diário de Noticias can be found here . The article is in Portuguese.

 Please click the link below to watch my discussion with my colleague, Professor Patricia Gabaldon , on gender diversity on boards, from 18 March 2021. We discussed the benefits that gender diversity can bring to boards and companies, and the barriers that women encounter when trying to get to top leadership positions. https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6778344373999468544/

Philosophy of the Book Existing textbooks on corporate governance tend to have a strong focus on UK and/or US corporate governance. This focus is somewhat surprising as the UK and US corporate governance systems have features which clearly set them apart from pretty much the rest of the world. Indeed, the typical British and American stock-market listed firm is widely held (held by many shareholders) and control therefore lies with the management rather than the shareholders. In contrast, most stock-exchange listed firms from the rest of the world have a large shareholder whose control is substantial enough to have a significant influence over the firm’s affairs. Given these marked differences in ownership and control, corporate governance issues emerging in non-UK and non-US firms tend to be very different from those that may affect British and American companies. Hence, it is important for a textbook to bear in mind the diversity of ownership and control a