Connecting the Dots: Bringing External Corporate Governance into the Corporate Governance Puzzle
梳理了法律环境、公司控制权市场、外部审计师、利益相关者行动、评级机构和媒体这六种外部治理机制的研究，并探讨它们如何与内部治理机制共同作用，为未来整合研究提供方向。
Corporate governance (CG) research has largely focused on internal governance mechanisms (i.e. the board of directors, controlling owners, and managerial incentives). However, much of this work ignores the role that external CG practices play in preventing managers from engaging in activities detrimental to the welfare of shareholders, and the overall firm. In this essay, we first review and organize current research on external governance mechanisms and integrate this siloed body of work within the broader CG equation. We explicitly focus on six external governance mechanisms: the legal environment, the market for corporate control, external auditors, stakeholder activism, rating organizations, and the media. We discuss findings showing how external governance mechanisms act both as independent forces and in conjunction with internal CG mechanisms. We conclude the review by mapping an agenda for future research on CG that better integrates internal and external governance mechanisms. Our review suggests that studying different configurations of external and internal governance mechanisms will help us to better understand what factors and conditions lead to effective CG.