Michael C. Jensen

Research topics

• Corporate Finance and Governance · 3 papers
• Banking stability, regulation, efficiency · 1 paper
• Economic theories and models · 1 paper
• Corporate Insolvency and Governance · 1 paper
• Italy: Economic History and Contemporary Issues · 1 paper

Frequent co-authors

• Kevin J. Murphy · 1 paper

Papers

1. Agency costs of free cash flow, corporate finance, and takeoversCambridge University Press eBooks · 1996 · 9,606 citations

   Corporate managers are the agents of shareholders; a relationship fraught with conflicting interests. Agency theory, the analysis of such conflicts, is now a major part of the economics literature. The payout of cash to shareholders creates major conflicts that have…

2. The Modern Industrial Revolution, Exit, and the Failure of Internal Control SystemsThe Journal of Finance · 1993 · 8,756 citations

   ABSTRACT Since 1973 technological, political, regulatory, and economic forces have been changing the worldwide economy in a fashion comparable to the changes experienced during the nineteenth century Industrial Revolution. As in the nineteenth century, we are experiencing declining costs, increasing…

3. Performance Pay and Top-Management IncentivesJournal of Political Economy · 1990 · 5,192 citations

   The authors' estimates of the pay-performance relation (including pay, options, stockholding, and dismissal) for chief executive officers indicate that CEO wealth changes $3.25 for every $1,000 changes in shareholder wealth. Although the incentives generated by stock ownership are large relative…