The debacles of Enron, Worldcom and others in 2001-2002 were imputed in good part to the “flexibility” of accounting norms and the artistry in their interpretation. As a result, regulators, governmental and professional, greatly tightened the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to which all publicly traded companies must rigorously adhere. Any breach of the GAAP […]

There is a Chinese proverb that says He who knows he has enough is rich; but the modern Western version of the saying seems to be: One never has enough; I deserve more; or There is always someone who has more. Over the last years, we have built a system of incentives and motives so […]

[ … ] a growing body of academic research has confirmed that short-term financial activists are a major contributor to systemic short-termism in managing businesses and investments. The notion that activist attacks increase, rather than undermine, long-term value creation has been resoundingly discredited. Economists Yvan Allaire and François Dauphin, for example, demonstrated in a series […]

“WILMINGTON, Del.—Ron Ozer was thrilled to get a job with DuPont, the two-centuries-old chemical company, when he finished his Ph.D. from Cornell in 1990. It was the place to go for young, ambitious chemists; it offered salary and benefits so generous that some people called it “Uncle Dupey.” For 26 years, he invented things for […]

IGOPP’s Executive Chair, Dr. Yvan Allaire’s study on Hedge funds Activism Hedge Fund Activism: Preliminary Results and Some New Empirical Evidence, is quoted in a recent article entitled “Can America’s Companies Survive America’s Most Aggressive Investors?” published in the Atlantic Magazine. This article discusses activist investors who are increasingly gaining control of legacy corporations, forcing them to trim payrolls […]

It is a common lamentation (and a media favourite) to bemoan the passing of large Canadian companies into the hands of foreign owners. Quebec society, for a host of reasons, has been and remains particularly sensitive and reactive to these occurrences. Yet, no sovereign country can be indifferent to the fact that important economic decisions […]

With Hillary Clinton’s tax proposals to encourage longer-term investing, the debate over whether American business is too fixated on the short term has moved from the dimly lit offices of earnest policy wonks into the klieg lights of U.S. primary season. Lots of commentators have jumped into the fray to declare that there is — […]

In Canadian business law, directors have a duty to act in the best interest of the corporation, which includes the duty to assess, fairly and equitably, the impact of the corporation’s actions and decisions on its stakeholders. But which of the stakeholders’ expectations should be taken into account? How should a board arbitrate between the […]

In the on-going quest for innovative capital structures, Toyota has recently provided an interesting twist and tied in knots a number of institutional investors. Toyota believes that developing the next generation technologies will require massive investments over many years. It also believes that the current state of investment practices, the prevalence of roaming funds and […]

Today, I’d like to pull together some themes that I have been thinking, speaking, and writing about during my tenure and address them more holistically. Specifically, I’d like to share with you some thoughts about shareholder activism, short-termism, and the SEC. I. What is activism? Like many others, I view activism broadly: it is simply […]

“If you guessed Hedge Funds, take your seat at the head of the class.  And, do the hedge fund and private equity firms deliver on Shareholder Value?  Not quite: “…the most generous conclusion one may reach from these empirical studies has to be that “activist” hedge funds create some short-term wealth for some shareholders as […]

“Stay different, and don’t ape the corporate governance structures of the private sector. That in outline was the message to co-ops from Professor Yvan Allaire, the executive chair of Canada’s Institute for Governance to delegates at the co-op summit taking place in Quebec this week. Yvan Allaire talked of what he called a “deep governance […]

The measure of a business corporation’s success is undoubtedly its economic performance. However, to achieve an excellent performance in the long run, the corporation must make the best use of the talent and experience of all its personnel. It must protect its good reputation as an employer, supplier of goods and services, buyer and citizen […]

Dr. Yvan Allaire, Executive Chair of the Institute for Governance (IGOPP) and Chair of the Global Agenda Council on the Role of Business- World Economic Forum, has prepared this context paper on the Role of Business which have been presented at the 2014 Davos summit. According to Dr. Allaire, the long-term success and survival of a business […]

Any business is a risky endeavour with an uncertain life expectancy. It has been, and should remain, a driver of innovation, a creator of wealth, a harbinger of economic freedom. The core mission of a profit-driven enterprise is not to fulfil some philanthropic duty. But neither is it solely to maximize short-term shareholder value. The […]

Dr. Yvan Allaire, Executive Chair of the Institute for Governance (IGOPP) and Chair of the Council on the role of business- World Economic Forum, has moderated a session entitled “CEO Dialogue on the Role of Business” organised by the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2014. This session was attended by more than 100 CEO. To […]