The John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware was established in 2000 and named in 2002 following a grant from Goldman Sachs & Co., Co-chairman John Weinberg. The Weinberg Center was designed as a forum for the legal, finance, judicial, business and student communities to come together in furtherance of thoughtful discourse on issues bearing on corporate governance and policy reform. In support of this mission, the Weinberg Center concentrates on high-quality research, programs and events, designed to have a meaningful impact on issues that matter to Board members and corporate management both domestically and internationally.

As an academic institution, the Weinberg Center has no ideological or political bias, and seeks to conduct its mission in furtherance of investor protection and effective, transparent corporate governance. History suggests that independent boards of directors, with meaningful equity stakes in the corporations they oversee, function as effective corporate stewards when they are subject to open shareholder elections. Under such a system, investor protection and shareholder value are promoted and enhanced. We study, therefore, the top issues of the day, in a search for insight, understanding and solutions to the issues that matter in corporate governance and hope to promote sound and effective governance practices that engender economic growth and innovation.

Weinberg Center Governance Series papers are short summaries of events or longer papers, designed for use by board members or policy makers and introductions to the original longer works of the field in general. We hope that, by sharing content to a wide audience, the overall understanding and debate is enriched by additional voices and perspectives.