Corporate Governance Research Initiative
Corporate Governance
Research priority area at the University of Amsterdam
High standard of Corporate Governance research
Corporate governance has a crucial influence on the social and economic progress of capitalist economies. Recent failures of internal governance illustrated by Enron, Ahold and others and by the sub-prime crisis, along with the failure to adapt to external pressures such as environmental degradation and international inequalities, demonstrate the fundamental importance of this topic. Within the University of Amsterdam Business School (ABS), the last few years have seen an impressive growth in research into different dimensions of corporate governance. Some elements of this development were planned (see ACLE) but overall it results from individual researchers responding to the demand for research in this area. The work spans a number of disciplines but has not been explicitly interdisciplinary and this points to a clear area for development. Even so, the productivity of the researchers, the top quality outlets in which they have published, the international characteristics of the subject matter and the international diversity of the researchers themselves points to a team demonstrating a level of excellence which is difficult to match within Europe. We seek to establish Corporate Governance as a research priority area to reflect its social and economic importance, stimulate the excellence of the research record in this area and continue developing it though improved coordination, resources and interdisciplinary cooperation. Corporate governance brings together various disciplines, covering finance, accounting and management and also involves an examination of legal and policy issues. The strength of our innovative, interdisciplinary approach gives us distinct strength in this field in comparison with other institutions.
The subject of corporate governance has become highly relevant both in academic and practical terms, and has broadened to include not only agency-based notions rooted more in finance, but other dimensions that relate to accounting and management as well. This is reflected in the academic journals in the respective fields. While there are different definitions of corporate governance from such a perspective, we see this, in line with the literature, as focusing on the relationship between the corporation and their stakeholders that determines and controls the strategic direction and performance of the corporation. This involves determining the broad uses to which organisational resources will be deployed and the resolution of conflicts among the myriad of constituents, which include directors, managers, employees, shareholders, customers, creditors, auditors, suppliers, community members and the government. In a more practical setting, such as corporate governance committees or international organisations, the reconciliation between economic and social goals, or put differently, the assurance that companies responsibly manage their impact on society and the environment, for example through non-financial disclosures, are explicitly included.