Principals and Agents: Structure of Business

The relationship called agency - one individual (the agent), acting on behalf of another (the principal) - is important to a wide range of business phenomena, such as labour contracts, corporate structures, transfer prices and tax partnerships. The subjects covered in this book include: the treatment of agency in the economics literature; institutional responses to the generic problems of agency; fiduciary duties, insider trading, and employment contracts; and the means by which an agency facilitates subordinates’ autonomy and managers’ control.