The role of the hostile activist shareholder has been taken up by a set of hedge funds. Hedge fund activism is characterized by mergers and corporate restructuring, replacement of management and board members, proxy voting, and lobbying of management. These investors target and research...

The primary agency problem traditionally existing in the US corporation has been the risk of opportunism of managers vis-à-vis shareholders. By contrast, the primary concern in European corporations has been the risk of opportunism of controlling shareholders vis-à-vis minority shareholders....