We provide a direct estimate of the magnitude of agency costs in U.S. publicly-held firms. Using a sample of 1,307 firms in 1992-1997, we compute an explicit performance benchmark that compares a firm’s actual Tobin’s Q to the Q∗ of a hypothetical fully-efficient firm having the same...

Recent empirical work shows that a better legal environment leads to lowerexpected rates of return in an international cross-section of countries. Thispaper investigates whether differences in firm-specific corporate governancealso help to explain expected returns in a cross-section of firms...

This paper investigates the relationship between a CEO’s social network, firm identity, andfirm performance. There are two competing theories that predict contradictory outcomes.Following social network theory, one would expect a positive relation between social networksand firm performance,...

La Rochelle, the fourth largest slaving port in France in the eighteenth-century, is used as a case study in the application of agency theory to long-distance trade. This analysis explores an area not accounted for in the literature on French commercial practices. Being broadly couched in a New...

One-shot interaction and repeated interaction often co-exist in the real world. We study possible behavioral effects of this co-existence in a principal-agent setting, in which a principal simultaneously employs a permanent and a temporary agent. Our experimental results indicate that there is...

This paper uses a stochastic cost frontier model to investigate the efficiency of Britain’s private railways during the period 1893-1912. We find that there was substantial inefficiency in the industry with no sign of reduction over time. Our main conclusion is that principal agent problems...

The choice of cultivation techniques is a key determinant of agricultural productivityand has important consequences for income growth and poverty reductionin developing countries. Using household data from Nicaragua this papershows that the choice of cultivation techniques depends on farmers’...

In diesem Beitrag werden die Effekte symmetrischer und asymmetrischer Besteuerungauf die Vorteilhaftigkeit erfolgsabhängiger und erfolgsunabhängiger Entlohnungsverträgeuntersucht. Dazu wird ein binäres Agency-Modell verwendet, in das eine proportionaleUnternehmenssteuer auf Ebene des...

When managing information technology (IT) infrastructure investments, companiestraditionally try to evaluate the monetary costs and benefits of this information system(IS) or seek to implement prudent IT governance structures. However, when collective,cooperation-specific investments in...

We analyze optimal contracts and optimal matching patterns in a simple model of partnershipwhere there is a double-sided moral hazard problem and potential partners differ intheir productivity in two tasks. It is possible for one individual to accomplish both tasks (soleproduction) and there are...