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(you and me) invest in the stock Looking at the concept of ued dependence on oil to pro- to interfere n member coun-
market, we do so without any Governance, do you think that duce energy. The two may be tries/ interns affairs, the UN is
intention or incentive to control this can be applied also to the linked; however terrorism goes bound to bc passive (Rwanda,
the firms that receive the cash far beyond the oil. I believe that Kosovo, SucI n, etc.). So, it may
public sector and eventually
for investment purposes. So, the United Nations should play a be beneficial or the UN to have
the international organiza-
who makes sure that your rights major role in countering terror- a state like ti US that is aggres-
as an investor are protected? tions? ism. However, as you know, the sive. Sort 01 like a "good cop,
Well, nobody, except the board UN itself is an organization bad cop" cc bination. So, the
of directors (which is typically Public sector corporate gover- fraught with governance prob- willingness £ the US to play
too close to the firm to stand up nance is very important. Non- lems. With so many diverse this role is ctually a positive
for investor rights), or the legal profit organizations are probably interests, and with no interna- development (whatever you
system (which may be under- the worst when it comes to gov- tional law to back up UN's right think of Pre lent Bush).
mined by corruption of the judi- ernance. One of the reasons for
cial system in many countries). sitions, and portfolio manage-
this is the lack of a clear alloca- Editor's note:
So we need to develop systems tion of ownership rights to the Professor Espen Eckbo received ment and performance evalua-
for protection. When it comes to resources handled by this sector. his Ph.D at the University of tion. He publishes regularly in
labour, however, everyone is For this reason it is also more dif- Rochester (USA) in 1981 and leading finance journals, and is
working to negotiate and a founding co-editor of the
ficult to successfully change was Professor of Finance at the
enforce their own labour con- European Finance Review, the
things around. Change processes University of British Columbia
tracts. So, you don't need a spe- become political (with all kinds (Canada) from 1981 to 1996. He journal of the European Finance
cial system of protection for of special interest groups clam- held chaired professorships at Association. He is currently a
these types of contracts. That's director the Norwegian
ouring for a piece of the pie), the Norwegian School of
why corporate governance does Research Council, and a former
while in the corporate sector, at Management, 1993-94, and at
not get into the debate over director of the European
least there are some well defined the Stockholm School of
globalization of labour markets. owners (equity holders) with the Economics, 1996-98, and he has Finance Association and the
right to design the system. been a visiting professor at MIT, American Financial
UCLA, INSEAD, Vanderbilt Management Association.
University and the Norwegian Dr Eckbo's business experience
What are the main tasks of In this world of globalization, School of Economics and includes performing contract
the Centre, and what are you what do you see as the major Business Administration. He is research for United States,
aiming to achieve? threats? currently a fellow of the Center Canadian and Norwegian
for Economic Policy Research government agencies; serving as
(CEPR), London. an expert witness in cases
The main task is to promote the On the governance side, there He received the prestigious involving corporate governance
reputation of the Tuck School of is a definite trend towards inter- Batterymarch Fellowship in and insider-trading issues. He
Business around the world. I do national convergence of sys- 1987, and has been awarded chaired the investment commit-
so by organizing conferences tems, and I don't think this trend large competitive research tee of the University of Oslo's
and one-day events with busi- can be broken. The reason is grants from various national endowment fund 1997-98, and
ness and governmental leaders simply that just about every research councils. Professor he has been an advisor to the
(about one a year). The centre country (including Russia and Eckbo conducts research in cor- trade association of the largest
has organized policy debates China) sees it as in their interest porate finance and capital mar- mutual funds in Norway. He is
throughout South America, to attract foreign investment kets, with an emphasis on currently a member of the
Europe and Asia. I also host a capital. On the political side, the investment banking, corporate board of directors of an index
world-class academic confer- main threat to globalization and governance, mergers and acqui- fund in Oslo.
ence in corporate finance here at international economic develop-
Tuck every two years. ment is terrorism and the contin-
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