Call For Papers
Governance Codes and Standards Program

The Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance at the Yale School of Management has begun a multi-year effort designed to encourage research into, and disseminate further knowledge of, international experience in the field of corporate governance codes and standards. The Center is requesting proposals for existing and original research on the role of corporate governance codes and standards, as developed and implemented by governments, private sectors, commercial bodies and the like, on markets, regulation, investors, company performance and behavior, or the practices of intermediaries. Submissions are encouraged from all academic disciplines including, but not limited to, finance, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, international business, economics and law. Selected authors may participate in a conference scheduled to take place at Yale University in March 2012.

PROJECT OVERVIEW: The field of corporate governance is growing, especially given the numerous legislative reforms in this field as a result of economic crises. Codes have drawn particular notice from policymakers. For instance, in the US, there is incipient interest in the utility of a possible authoritative set of national corporate governance principles. European policymakers, for their part, are leaning heavily on comply-or-explain standards; the April 2011 EU Green Paper on corporate governance includes a detailed section on codes (http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/company/docs/modern/com2011-164_en.pdf, section 3). But codes have so far drawn less attention from scholars, leaving gaps in knowledge even as policymakers try to evaluate the prospective or past impact of such practices.

Academic literature on corporate governance codes was last surveyed in 2009 in a paper by Aguilera and Cuervo-Cazurra (Ruth Aguilera and Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra, "Codes of Good Governance," Corporate Governance: An International Review, 2009, 17(3): 376-387), in which the two observed that "there is little systematic analysis of how codes of good governance have affected how corporations are structured or how managers behave across different governance systems." Research has largely focused on comparing the content of codes from one market to another, and on the extent of compliance with codes by companies in particular jurisdictions. According to the research, literature that attempts to test whether corporations or investors receive value from corporate governance codes is conflicting or inconclusive; "a key puzzle that needs to be resolved in research on codes of good governance is whether they have an impact on firm performance."

TOPICS OF RESEARCH: Gaps in current knowledge impede insight on whether corporate governance codes provide value, to whom, and under what circumstances, and whether they introduce other intended or unintended consequences to markets. For example, market participants are hampered in assessing whether a common, voluntary, private sector-written code of corporate governance might be relevant to the United States; or whether such codes are effective alternatives to statutory reform in Europe and Asia and, if they are, in what form. This call for papers is largely focused on understanding the relationship between corporate governance codes and whether these codes have an association with firm behavior and performance, or with the behavior of investors or intermediaries such as proxy advisors, auditors, remuneration consultants or others. We welcome papers that attempt to first study what, if any, changes occurred in association with the appearance of codes, and then to what extent these changes tell us anything about the potentially causal relationship between governance and performance.

Research may help to inform policy debate in the following non-exhaustive areas:
- How investors may take national corporate governance standards into account when shaping their own behavior in respect to investing, engagement, and voting;
- Whether it is possible to identify corporate governance variables that most affect company performance;
- Whether the presence of authoritative governance standards affects the incidence or type of legal actions taken against corporations;
- Whether there is a distinction in the application of codes to financial institutions as opposed to other firms;
- Cost-benefit analyses of applying standards at corporations or across a market;
- Whether disparities among national guidelines prompt code arbitrage - for instance, persuading companies to reincorporate or switch stock exchange listings to take advantage of different standards elsewhere;
- Whether and to what extent the ways in which codes are formulated and implemented affect outcomes such as the behavior of market participants;
- Whether codes affect the behavior of influential intermediaries such as proxy advisors, remuneration consultants, auditors or others;
- A comparative analysis of the content of codes and outcomes across jurisdictions;
- Whether codes can be thought of as exogenous changes in corporate governance (or to what extent).

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS: Scholars are invited to submit proposals, including a 2 to 3 page abstract and outline of their proposed research project along with a current CV, by July 1, 2011. Topics not specifically mentioned in these pages that fit within the project parameters are welcome. There is no submission fee. Papers must in English.

A scientific committee of distinguished scholars from Yale and other institutions will select approximately eight papers. Awardees will be notified by August 15, 2011. Completed papers will be expected by December 14, 2011. The conference is tentatively scheduled for March 2012. The Center will also endeavor to identify papers for publication in book form.

The scientific committee for the project is coordinated by Stephen Davis, Ph.D., executive director of the Millstein Center, and composed of: Marco Becht, Professor of Finance and Economics at Universite Libre de Bruxelles and executive director of the European Corporate Governance Institute; K.J. Martijn Cremers, Associate Professor of Finance, Yale School of Management; Colin Mayer, Peter Moores Dean of Said Business School and Peter Moores Professor of Management Studies, Oxford University; and Andrew Metrick, Deputy Dean for Faculty Development and Michael H. Jordan Professor of Finance and Management, Yale School of Management.

The Millstein Center may make available upon request and review a US$2,000 award to authors of each selected paper to support research required for completion of the paper. In addition, for those papers accepted for presentation at the Millstein Center academic conference, organizers will pay for travel by one presenter per paper to Yale University, the conference location, along with room and board in New Haven, CT USA for the duration of the event.

If you wish to have your paper considered for presentation at the conference, please submit your abstract or paper electronically as a Word or PDF document. If requesting award funding towards data purchase or research support, please provide a budget breakdown. All identifying information should be attached via a separate page, and the submission sent via email to: Michele Grammatico, Administrator, Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance, email: michele.grammatico@yale.edu