Call for Papers
THE SHIFTING CAPITAL MARKETS & CORPORATE PERFORMANCE CONFERENCE AND RESEARCH AGENDA
The Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance at the Yale School of Management is requesting proposals for research exploring the relationship between the evolution of capital markets and corporate governance. Submissions are encouraged from all academic disciplines including but not limited to accounting, economics, finance, law, organizational behavior, and political science. Selected authors will participate in a conference scheduled for November 2008.
PROJECT OVERVIEW:
Economies rely on the corporation as the engine for economic growth - to create jobs, earn profits, and divide the value added among those contributing to its prosperity. Capital markets make this possible by providing the corporation with:
1. sources of financing in the form of equity, debt or other instruments;
2. a range of financial services;
3. engaged potential business partners.
Today's capital markets have evolved from the dispersed ownership model underlying regulatory and corporate governance theory and practice for the last 75 years (particularly in the United States).
Intermediaries such as pension funds, mutual funds, insurance companies, banks and sovereign wealth funds are dominant players in the global capital markets, often taking seats in the boardroom and acting on behalf of shareholders. These institutions themselves entrust huge amounts of money to other intermediaries, such as private equity funds, hedge funds, activist funds, and now publicly-held equity funds. These developments have been both hailed and vilified for their effects on corporate governance.
"The Shifting Capital Market & Corporate Performance" project aims to unravel the connection between ownership, governance and the corporation's ability to meet the expectations of shareholders, employees, suppliers, creditors, customers, communities, and society at large. Empirical study is a prudent undertaking before regulatory or private initiatives are implemented in defense of the vibrancy and innovativeness of capital markets.
This project complements current OECD efforts focused on the relationship between capital markets and general economic development. This study will provide the OECD with insights into the evolution of capital markets and corporate governance and suggest how to ensure that capital markets continue to fuel corporate performance.
TOPICS OF RESEARCH:
The Millstein Center is encouraging new research that fits into three broad themes. The questions listed below suggest topics we hope to see addressed. Of course, research proposals are likely to be more focused. We welcome investigations of related questions as well:
The Current State and Evolution of Capital Markets
- How do ownership patterns vary over time and from market to market? How can we account for this variation?
- Do present ownership structures and corporate governance practices clash with the concepts of dispersed ownership and managerial capitalism? Any ramifications?
- Are private equity funds displacing the public capital market? Is the emergence of such funds stimulated by the shortcomings of public capital markets, the burden of regulatory compliance, or some other force?
Behavioral Drivers of Capital Market Participants
- What are the incentives that drive capital into the new investment and ownership structures? Has private ownership become more attractive to boards, managers, and shareholders?
- How are new constituencies in the markets influencing corporate managers' decision making, as compared to directors, politicians, regulators, stock exchanges, media, and analysts?
- Do director's fiduciary responsibilities conflict with financial considerations in the context of decisions regarding change in ownership and control?
Implications of Capital Market Developments
- Do changes in ownership models serve the best interests of individual investors or intermediaries (or both)? Are the current mechanisms of investor protection appropriate for the new forms of investment and ownership?
- Has the evolution of capital markets and ownership structures had unintended negative (or positive) consequences for corporate performance and distribution of capital?
- Does the emergence of new investors - including private equity funds - help fix the problem of "short-termism" or exacerbate it?
- Do private equity funds improve corporate performance by methods applicable to public corporations? Are these gains sustainable in the long-term? Are performance improvements a cause or consequence of better governance?
What happens when the company goes public once again?
- Are there circumstances when the incentives and strategies of private pools of capital are systematically out of line with efficient allocation of capital in society? Is this more or less true than it is for public corporations?
- Are the "transaction costs" associated with the capital markets - fees and other costs attributed to fund managers, investors, underwriters, lawyers, etc. - proportional to the enhancement of liquidity, costs of capital, and corporate performance?
SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS:
Scholars are invited to submit a detailed 4-5 page abstract and outline of their proposed research project and paper by February 22, 2008. Topics not specifically mentioned in these pages that fit within the project parameters are welcome. There is no submission fee.
A panel of Yale faculty members will select approximately six papers for the Conference. Selected participants will be notified by the mid-March 2008. Completed papers will be expected by October 26, 2008. The conference is tentatively scheduled for November 7-8, 2008.
Conference organizers will pay for travel to the conference and room and board in New Haven, CT for the selected authors. The Center will provide a $2,500 research award to the authors of all selected papers to support research required to complete the paper to be presented at the Conference and an award of $5,000 to the authors of the best paper.
If you wish to have your paper considered for presentation at the conference, please submit your proposal electronically, as a Word or PDF document. All identifying information should be attached per separate cover page from the abstract, via email to:
CONTACT: Michele Grammatico Administrato,r Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance ,Yale School of Management
Email: michele.grammatico@yale.edu
We look forward to an exciting conference and hope you will submit your paper for consideration.