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Corporate governance (CG) needs to acknowledge the intentional part of governance, where an actor of governance uses the set of corporate governance mechanisms in order to influence the agent to create a performance that will satisfy the interest of the principal. This paper offers a conception of this activity through the concept of governance strategy. The concept is derived within the context of agency theory and applied to two empirical organisations seldom investigated in CG research: the organisation of a riding school in a democratic not-for-profit association and the organisation of multinational corporations in a business group. ; The project is financed by The Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation. An earlier version was presented at the Academy of Management Conference, Atlanta. Georgia, August 11-16, 2006. The paper has benefited from comments by Elin Smith, Kristianstad University.

È da almeno un ventennio che si assiste all'uso crescente del termine governance nei più diversi ambiti istituzionali, politici e di ricerca e con significati e implicazioni differenti nei diversi contesti d'utilizzo. In particolare, nella comunità scientifica essa attraversa le contemporanee dottrine dell'amministrazione e dello stato (New Public Management, dottrine o teorie della regolazione), le teorie dell'organizzazione delle corporazioni economiche (corporate governance), i dibattiti sul governo locale e urbano, alcuni sviluppi della politica internazionale (global governance). Il contributo si propone di ricostruire queste diverse accezione segnalandone i termini di rilievo per la contemporanea riflessione politica e politologica.

One of the most important theme in the current debates on globalization is the implication of globalization to the state. Two contending positions can immediately be identified: one that argues that globalization results in the 'retreat of the state' and other that argues that globalization is 'what the states make of it'. While it is quite apparent that none of these two positions is satisfactorily defensible, this article presents another problem related to the way in which the state is related to the globalization. Both positions tend to take the state for granted, in that, all states are (western) modern states, without taking into account their history and sociology. As a result, they fail to cacth inside dynamics of political power taking place in the group of states so called the third world and, therefore, lose their releaance.

This study describes the Indian corporate governance system and examines how the system has both supported and held back India's ascent to the top ranks of the world's economies. While on paper the country's legal system provides some of the best investor protection in the world, enforcement is a major problem with slow, over-burdened courts and significant corruption. Ownership remains concentrated and family business groups continue to be the dominant business model. There is significant pyramiding and tunneling among Indian business groups and, notwithstanding copious reporting requirements, evidence of earnings management. However, corporate governance in India does not compare unfavorably with any of the other major emerging economies: Brazil, China and Russia. India ranks high on the ease of getting credit, and has a well-functioning banking sector with one of the lowest proportions of nonperforming assets. The two main Stock Exchanges have among the highest number of trades in the world, and the relatively young Securities and Exchanges Board of India has a rigorous regulatory regime to ensure fairness, transparency and good practice. Most importantly, the corporate governance landscape in the country has been changing fast over the past decade, particularly with the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley type measures and legal changes to improve the enforceability of creditor's rights. If this trend is maintained, India should have the quality of corporate governance necessary to sustain its impressive current growth rates.

Sustainable development is rapidly moving from the periphery to the mainstream of politics, business, and science. Over the past several years, a strong consensus has started to emerge that some of the major global problems can only be overcome through large-scale concerted action. Recent additions to the debate include the reports by the International Panel on Climate Change, the Stern Report on the economics of climate change, Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth and, perhaps less known, the Potsdam Memorandum1. The latter communication was recently presented by a broad group of Nobel laureates and is titled "The Great Transformation." The statement pleads for fundamental changes in our economies and societies and asks

Public well-being is directed to the welfare of all. The state is traditionally the solicitor of this noble good. Its mission is to balance out the different interests of the different social groups. Within this framework, the activities of the different economic actors are of special significance. In times of globalization, economic actors have been enormously dynamised, not always to the benefit of the individual. The much quoted primacy of economy threatens to become far too powerful, influencing all areas of life rather unfavourably. If public well-being is considered a significant social factor, the question of how the different economic agents can contribute to it on an economic level, stands in the foreground. The microeconomic actors can indeed - also because of their different objectives - contribute essentially and in very different ways to public well-being as well as to a prospering economy and society, in spite of all current deficits. There is also a demand for reaction on the political level. More than ever, the state is stipulated to provide ethic bases and to act accordingly in an assortative, long sighted and in the most positive sense of the word regulating way, as well as with social and ecological responsibility.

To explain the institutional developments of the EC/EU, the traditional theories of European integration used to build their arguments around two opposite and well-known models of public authority, the International Organisation one vs. the State one: But both of these yardsticks have proven to be of limited heuristic power, faced with the peculiarity of the EC/EU institutional configuration. The deadlock that classic theories run into, then, was just bypassed by the following studies, that left behind the "ontological question" to focus on middle-range fields or specific dynamics, driven by the idea that the system had a unique nature, but the way it worked could be known and named. Thus, the post-ontological studies often referred to the European institutional level as a "governance system", to indicate that the EC/EU is able to allocate values by shaping trans-boundary policy processes, but through an institutional interplay hardly referable to some conventional political model. Thus, this paper aims (1) to analyse the different contents attached to the "governance" label in European studies since the fixing Hix made when talking of a "new governance agenda" in 1998, (2) to recast the ontological question in the light of the "new governance", a theoretical framework linking Rosenau's concept of self-sustaining trans-boundary "Spheres of Authority" to policy cycles now decoupled from the nation-state jurisdictions, and (3) to define and apply this framework to the institutional development of the EC/EU, to identify the reasons beneath the common project actual stalemate.

Contested Governance in Japan extends the analysis of governance in contemporary Japan by exploring both the sites and issues of governance above and below the state as well as within it. This volume discusses the contested nature of governance in Japan and the ways in which a range of actors are involved in different sites and issues of governance at home, in the region and the globe. It includes chapters on global governance, local policy-making, democracy, environmental governance, the Japanese financial system, corruption, the family and corporate governance.

Seaports can be meaningfully analysed with a cluster perspective. In this perspective, seaports are regarded as concentrations of economic activity related to the arrival and service of ships and cargoes at ports. This perspective has two main advantages: first, it draws attention to forces of agglomeration and disagglomeration in seaports. Some seaports are able to become concentrations of logistics activities, commercial centres, 'information hubs' and 'shipping hubs', while others do not attract such activities. The cluster perspective allows for an analysis of such processes of agglomeration. Second, the cluster perspective enriches existing theories on governance in seaports. The analysis of governance in seaports has mostly been limited to the role of the port authority. Notwithstanding the central role of port authorities in ports (port clusters), we argue that a port authority is one 'arrangement' to improve the governance in clusters, but not the only 'arrangement'. Other arrangements include the formation of associations, the development of public-private partnerships and the use of networks. The literature on governance in clusters provides a broad analytical framework. This framework has implications for analysing the important and complex issue of the role of port authorities in seaports. In this paper, we deal in depth with the issue of cluster governance in seaports and illustrate our approach to cluster governance with an analysis of the port of Rotterdam.

The thesis analyses the role of policy instruments for dynamics of governance, using case studies on 'emissisons trading' and 'network access regulation in the utilities'. It opens by observing a paradox: Policy instruments are criticised for misrepresenting the complex and contested reality of public policy-making by portraying it as technical problem-solving, yet, policy instruments play an increasingly central role in policy analysis, design and public debate. The first part of the thesis develops a conception of policy instruments as 'designs on governance'. This implies a double life: as models of governance and as configurations that work in real world governance contexts. Understanding the role of policy instruments requires to study the development of trajectories in governance patterns that result from the interaction of models and configurations. Concepts from innovation studies are mobilised and the notion of an 'innovation journey' is adopted as a heuristic framework. The second part of the thesis presents two case studies examplifying different innovation patterns: design push (case of emissions trading) and dynamics pull (case of network access regulation). For each pattern typical phases and transitions as well as ironies that undermine the instrumentality of designs on governance are discussed. Conclusions of the thesis address the co-evolution of policy instruments with broader governance dynamics and specify conditions under which momentum of instruments may dominate over dynamics of problem formulation and political authority, or vice versa. Key insights are formulated with respect to the division of design labour between local and global in the context of emerging cosmopolitan governance regimes, the social life of policy instruments and the ambivalent role of technical models of governance for effectiveness as well as democratic legimitacy of public policy.

This paper attempts to identify the key challenges facing Indigenous people and governments in reshaping the architecture of Indigenous governance in the Territory, and considers some strategic options for a way forward. First, a brief historical background is provided to Indigenous governance and local government in the Northern Territory. It examines why the issue of Indigenous governance has become a focus for greater policy and public attention recently, and highlights the implications of historical and current policy changes for future governance arrangements. In the second part of the paper, more detailed attention is given to identifying and analysing the current challenges and issues that are influencing efforts to reshape Indigenous governance in the Northern Territory. The extent to which current initiatives address the broader attributes of strong governance is canvassed, and the solutions and processes involved are also examined. The key issues analysed include: • the state of community government; • the regionalisation of governance and service delivery; • the quest to establish a cultural match or process for governance; • the implications of Indigenous political aspirations and land rights for governance; • the suitability of the Local Government Act for future governance options; for future governance options; • the extent and role of governance education and capacity; and • the vexed issues of government funding and coordination. It is timely for the Northern Territory Government to comprehensively re-examine the suitability of current legislative, funding, development and training frameworks for Indigenous governance, and how these might be reformed to better support Indigenous initiatives to reshape governance. A number of options in these areas are canvassed.

The Pacific Islands are feeling the effects of globalisation. Free trade in sugar and garments is threatening two of Fiji's key industries. At the same time other opportunities are emerging. Labour migration is growing in importance, and Pacific governments are calling for more access to Australia's labour market. Fiji has joined Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Kiribati as a remittance economy, with thousands of its citizens working overseas. Meantime, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands grapple with an older kind of globalisation in which overseas companies exploit mineral and forest resources. The Pacific Islands confront unique problems of governance in this era of globalisation. The modern, democratic state often fits awkwardly with traditional ways of doing politics in that part of the world. Just as often, politicians in the Pacific exploit tradition or invent it to serve modern political purposes. The contributors to this volume examine Pacific globalisation and governance from a wide range of perspectives. They come from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Hawai'i, the Federated States of Micronesia, Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand and Jamaica as well as Australia.

This article presents estimates of six dimensions of governance for 199 countries and territories for 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2002 developed in the context of an ongoing project to measure governance across countries. Section one describes the data used in developing this round of the governance indicators, which include several new sources. Data sources used in the earlier studies were updated forward to 2002 and backward to 1996, and previously estimated indicators for 1998 and 2000were revised to reflect the new data. The aggregation procedure, described in section two, provides not only estimates of governance for each country but also measures of the precision or reliability of these estimates. Although the new data have improved the precision of the governance indicators, the margins of error remain large relative to the units in which governance is measured, so that comparisons across countries and especially over time should be made with caution.

International audience ; As with European experiments, in various regions in France, territorial intelligence projects have been initiated since 2003. (see the regions of Lower Normandy, Lorraine, Réunion Island, the Aquitaine region, etc.).The objective of these is to gather and exploit information which is not confined to particular sectors and the collective processing of which can contribute to durable development. Apart from institutions, civil society and the inhabitants of the territory, it is observed that companies and in particular small and medium sized enterprises are natural partners who show interest in such initiatives. Both the different economic chains and the participating organizations thus derive considerable benefit in terms of the anticipation of threats and in the reaffirmation of the territory as a common resource worth defending. Above and beyond the information processing systems operating within these organizations or economic chains, the articulation of internal actions to generate informational capital in terms of local territorial intelligence, produces a leverage effect with visibility of European or even worldwide visibility (Herbaux, 2007)52. Nonetheless these experiments lead to widely differing results, of which the progressive abandonment of the project by the companies involved is one of the most commonly observed. To support a theoretical contribution as a thread for this communication, we report on the results of a Delphi type survey completed in 2006 and covering 53 companies in the Nord- Pas de Calais region involved in a process of territorial intelligence since 2003. This revealed that 43 companies out of the 53 concerned had not followed through on their internal information sharing project and contented themselves, by default, with the results by economic sector derived from public regional surveillance Beyond this apparent disengagement from the process initiated, we may be curious about this apparent discretion of a group of actors concerning local government. This ...

International audience ; As with European experiments, in various regions in France, territorial intelligence projects have been initiated since 2003. (see the regions of Lower Normandy, Lorraine, Réunion Island, the Aquitaine region, etc.).The objective of these is to gather and exploit information which is not confined to particular sectors and the collective processing of which can contribute to durable development. Apart from institutions, civil society and the inhabitants of the territory, it is observed that companies and in particular small and medium sized enterprises are natural partners who show interest in such initiatives. Both the different economic chains and the participating organizations thus derive considerable benefit in terms of the anticipation of threats and in the reaffirmation of the territory as a common resource worth defending. Above and beyond the information processing systems operating within these organizations or economic chains, the articulation of internal actions to generate informational capital in terms of local territorial intelligence, produces a leverage effect with visibility of European or even worldwide visibility (Herbaux, 2007)52. Nonetheless these experiments lead to widely differing results, of which the progressive abandonment of the project by the companies involved is one of the most commonly observed. To support a theoretical contribution as a thread for this communication, we report on the results of a Delphi type survey completed in 2006 and covering 53 companies in the Nord- Pas de Calais region involved in a process of territorial intelligence since 2003. This revealed that 43 companies out of the 53 concerned had not followed through on their internal information sharing project and contented themselves, by default, with the results by economic sector derived from public regional surveillance Beyond this apparent disengagement from the process initiated, we may be curious about this apparent discretion of a group of actors concerning local government. This ...