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Columbia Law School

Corporate performance

Business Organizations Law

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Impact Investing As A Form Of Lobbying And Its Corporate-Governance Effects, Andrzej Rapaczynski Jan 2016

Impact Investing As A Form Of Lobbying And Its Corporate-Governance Effects, Andrzej Rapaczynski

Faculty Scholarship

Impact investment is attractive to many because it seems to combine support for progressive causes with an apparent commitment to the principles of a market economy. In fact, however, a rational impact investor is not simply creating demand for certain types of corporate actions; he/she is attempting to use corporate governance mechanisms to influence fiduciary decisions of the management. The cost of this tactic for the health of the capitalist economy is potentially very considerable. The American capitalist system relies heavily on a relatively fragile corporate governance arrangement in which the agency problems of a modern corporation are minimized by …


Chairing The Board: The Case For Independent Leadership In Corporate North America, Millstein Center For Corporate Governance And Performance Jan 2009

Chairing The Board: The Case For Independent Leadership In Corporate North America, Millstein Center For Corporate Governance And Performance

Ira M. Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership

The number of non-executive chairmen at companies in North America has been increasing year by year. Recent figures, according to the 2008 Spencer Stuart Board Index, indicate that the last decade has seen a growing trend in separating the roles of the Chief Executive Officer (ceo) and the chairman of the board. In 1998, 16% of the s&p 500 featured distinct chairmen. Data shows that in 2008 as many as 39% appoint someone other than the ceo to chair the board. Traditionally, even in companies that split the role, the chairman was not completely independent, but rather commonly the ex-ceo …