Corporate governance, value creation and growth

The OECD has published a collection of essays under the title Corporate governance, value creation and growth: the bridge between finance and enterprise: see here (pdf). Included in the volume is an essay by Professor Colin Mayer titled "Regulating for value creation: What is the link between market confidence and contractual freedom?" in which he argues:

Corporate governance is not about enhancing shareholder value. It is about enhancing economic growth, entrepreneurship, innovation and value creation .. The correct focus of corporate governance therefore should not be on enhancing shareholder value per se, but on how one structures these aspects of corporate governance in terms of ownership, boards and remuneration to achieve the right balance between the degree of control that investors are exercising and the degree of commitment they are showing to firms, with a view to attaining the firms‟ objectives. The implication is that what is suitable for one country is not necessarily suited for another country, what is appropriate for one industry is not for another, and what is suited for one firm within an industry is not for another. What we need is diversity and contractual freedom. Regulation should be designed to enhance markets, but not in the process to undermine the delivery of that contractual freedom. In that regard, prescriptive regulation can be particularly damaging".