Corporate Governance and the U.S. Firm: A Review and Directions for Future Research

Abstract:     
In the past, corporate governance was an important control mechanism for maintaining the accountability of management and directors of an organization. However, the value of strong corporate governance has assumed a critical role in organizations since recent highly publicized business failures of a number of large companies. Claims about the unreliability of reported earnings continue, as evidenced by an increase in the frequency of earnings restatements, earnings management, and fraud. Thus, corporate governance systems continue to be of utmost importance based on the impact of financial reporting (e.g., firm value, earnings and audit quality, firm performance) on capital markets. This book provides a comprehensive review, discussion, and analysis of over 150 research works on the usefulness of corporate governance codes to US firms based on theory underlying corporate governance, anecdotal evidence, and practices. The book first introduces the multi-faceted aspects of corporate governance, reviews corporate governance codes and their unplanned consequences on US firms, and then classifies the extant literature on corporate governance over the last two decades, from 1990 to 2010. The book further discusses the association between corporate governance and organizational outcomes such as firm value, performance, and financial reporting quality to draw conclusions regarding the overall effectiveness of corporate governance codes to US firms. Based on this classification, the book offers directions for future research regarding corporate governance mechanisms to maximize their benefit to US firms.

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