Theorizing Corporate Governance: Organizational Alternatives

In this paper I contrast ‘economic’ and ‘organizational’ approaches to corporate governance, in order to draw out some of their distinctive features and discuss their relative strengths and weaknesses. I identify some promising areas of new research that examine the role of social controls and trust for the way that companies are governed. Although these are fairly embryonic, I argue that they call into question the hegemony of economic theories in theorizing the governance of the corporation. I conclude by advocating a re-consideration and broadening of the current conceptual scope of corporate governance, so as to facilitate and encourage other potentially valuable ways of exploring and understanding how companies are governed.