We examine the political dynamics which led to the codification of the Principles and Standards for sound compensation practices at financial institutions at international (G 20) level and to their subsequent implementation on both sides of the Atlantic. We show that the regulation of bankers'...

We study the role of foreign directors in U.S. firms. We conclude that foreign directors, especially those from countries that are dissimilar to the U.S. in terms of business environment (i.e., dissimilar directors), are chosen by multinational corporations (MNCs) to provide advice, and this...

I examine whether the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US is a learning organization (i.e., one that is capable of learning and adaptation to the dynamic nature of the securities markets – the subject of the SEC's regulatory oversight). Using the treatment of public corporate...

In the past decade, as a result of many interrelated changes in the economic environment, the role and the pressures on the corporate governance of firms have been significantly transformed in the US and the UK. To test the magnitude of this changed environment, we study one aspect of corporate...

Many studies use country-specific evidence to investigate research questions of broad interest due to research advantages of a given country, such as data availability or to exploit an exogenous event that allows identification. One such research stream examines Canadian directors' and officers'...

The leverage of unregulated U.S. corporations has decreased markedly since 1992. We find greater power by institutional investors explains part of this deleveraging trend. Removing legal barriers enhanced institutions' influence and enabled them to induce firms to move toward more efficient...

This statement presents my views on buybacks and my general reactions to provisions in four pieces of legislation relating to stock buybacks. Part I describes the role of stock buybacks in the economy and offers some “investor-benign” explanations for firms' use of repurchases rather than...

Notwithstanding the focus on hedge fund activism, fundamental questions remain. How much does hedge fund activism really matter? What has academic study contributed to the understanding of hedge fund activism? And what, if anything, does research on hedge fund activism illuminate about the...

In May 2009, the SEC proposed the most significant amendments to proxy rules since 1942. We build comprehensive samples of US and UK shareholder proposals for the period 2000-2006 to study the relation between proxy rules and proxy practices and the effect of shareholder proposals on firm...

This short technical report provides an empirical analysis of the level of institutional block ownership overall, and of foreign block ownership, at a broad set of publicly traded corporations. Disclosed institutional blockholders of every company in the Standard & Poor's 500 index are analyzed,...