The History of Modern US Corporate Governance

Corporate Governance in the New Global Economy series

Edited by Brian R. Cheffins, S.J. Berwin Professor of Corporate Law, University of Cambridge, UK

This two-volume set is a unique resource for those seeking a historical overview of the development of corporate governance. The papers trace the evolution of US corporate governance from the time when the subject became prominent in the 1970s to the present day. Topics canvassed include the board of directors, executive pay, shareholder activism and the regulatory structure that shapes corporate governance in the US. The primary focus is on the governance challenges posed by the separation of ownership and control, a hallmark of larger US public companies.

我们的两卷工作ighty in terms of their content. It is advantageous that the reprints reflect the original publication style, most convenient for accurate citation. Overall, the chapters and the themes of the work are usefully summarised in the detailed and highly analytical introduction by the editor, in which there is a wealth of reference material and further sources provided in all of the chapters in the various sections and which would repay careful study. . . this is a serious work for the legal historian and the comparative lawyer, whether academic, practitioner or judge, who wishes to be informed of the history and modern development in the jurisdiction that gave the term “corporate governance” its genesis and which has led to corporate governance assuming a central place in the business world and in the thoughts of commentators.’
– Paul J. Omar, International Company and Commercial Law Review

‘Like it or not, the corporation will continue to be the world’s dominant form of business organization. But how are corporations to be governed? How should they be governed? As the pre-eminent “corporation nation”, the USA has been the home of some of the best thinking on the manifold problems of corporate governance. This impressive collection contains a thorough range of that thinking in recent years and decades. Steeped in the recent past, it provides a framework for thinking about the corporate future.’
– Richard Sylla, New York University, US