The economic history the last decade has witnessed two distinct phases: the stock market bubble of the late 1990's, and its subsequent bursting in 2000, which brought to light Enron, WorldCom and other corporate scandals in the US and Europe. Both these phases called into question the effectiveness of current corporate governance mechanisms such as the role of the board of directors, executive remuneration and the nature of shareholder activism. The subsequent debate has often produced heated discussion and controversial solutions such as the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002.In light of events, the London School of Economics and New York University convened a high level gathering of practitioners and academics in the fields of finance, law and public policy. These included Harvard's Michael Jensen, one of most prominent advocates of 'shareholder value', and Martin Lipton, one of the leading corporate lawyers in the US and a long time advocate of a wider role for the corporation in society. The issues and insights are captured in a concise and accessible manner in this volume by Geoffrey Owen, Tom Kirchmaier and Jeremy Grant.