Behavioral governance perspectives

Currently there is an increased scholarly interest in taking a behavioral governance perspective. Since the influential work of Hambrick and Mason on upper echelons theory, extensive research has been conducted on the impact of corporate leadership on the organization and its performance. While agency theory is currently the dominant theory in this area of research, it does not explain all observed behaviors and outcomes. Thus providing opportunities for furthering the field by utilizing the behavioral governance perspective.

This research focuses on values and personality of those in the upper echelons; the top management team, CEO or board of directors. The project aims to provide insights on how interpersonal differences result in variation in preferences, decisions made, and resulting strategic outcomes. There is a special interest in this project for the role of corporate leaders in relation to the societal role of firm.

Both quantitative as well as qualitative methods will be used in this pursuit. As part of the scientific department of the Erasmus Governance Institute, there is the possibility to engage with a large association of Dutch board members who are affiliated to the institute. Thus, we seek to enrich the public data dominated field with first hand empirical insights. In doing so we aim to contribute to the upcoming behavioral governance literature.

This project is funded by Erasmus Governance Institute.