Edward Waitzer

 Ed Waitzer re-examines legal and finance theories about the purpose of the corporation, tracing the evolution from “agency theory” to the “efficient market hypothesis” and, more recently, “enlightened stakeholder theory” and beyond.  In doing so he comes to several conclusions.  Firstly, he argues that despite the inevitable desire for standardization and theoretical elegance, there is no one “right” governance model.  Corporate governance is messy and complicated because that is life.  Hence, the focus of corporate governance reflects a move from a simple legal view of the corporation to one that has become increasingly complex and dynamic, constantly responding to societal expectations.  Secondly, he discusses why it might be that, as with politics, many of the regulatory initiatives around corporate governance are “symbolic” – they certainly cannot be explained by their relevance to improving governance or performance.  This leads him to suggest lessons from systems theory that might inform a more nuanced and constructive way to think about corporate purpose and governance.

Lee el análisis de Edward Waitzer aquí