"This book describes the theory and practice of corporate finance. It's clear why financial managers have to master the practical aspects of their job, but why do practitioners need to bother with theory? Managers learn from experience how to cope with routine problems. But the best managers are also able to respond to change and deal with non-routine situations. To do so you need more than rules of thumb and gut feel; you must understand why companies and financial markets behave the way they do. In other words, you need a theory of finance. That should not sound intimidating. Good theory helps you grasp what is going on in the world around you. It helps you ask the right questions when times change and new problems need to be analyzed. It also tells you which things you do not need to worry about. Throughout this book, we show how managers use financial theory to solve practical problems"-- Provided by publisher.

A Financial Times Book of the Year 2020! Should companies be run for profit or purpose? In this ground-breaking book, acclaimed finance professor and TED speaker Alex Edmans shows it's not an either-or choice. Drawing from real-life examples spanning industries and countries, Edmans demonstrates that purpose-driven businesses are consistently more successful in the long-term. But a purposeful company must navigate difficult trade-offs and take tough decisions. Edmans provides a roadmap for company leaders to put purpose into practice, and overcome the hurdles that hold many back. He explains how investors can discern which companies are truly purposeful and how to engage with them to unleash value for both shareholders and society. And he highlights the role that citizens can play in reshaping business to improve our world. This edition has been thoroughly updated to include the pandemic, the latest research, and new insights on how to make purpose a reality.

"The consensus among politicians, citizens, and even executives themselves - on both sides of the political spectrum and throughout the world - is that business just isn't working for ordinary people. The 2007 financial crisis cost 9 million Americans their jobs and 10 million their homes.1 Even though the economy has recovered since then, the gains have largely gone to bosses and shareholders, while ordinary incomes have stagnated. In 2018, just 26 tycoons owned the same wealth as the 3.8 billion poorest citizens in the world.2 Corporations impact not only people's livelihoods, but also their lives. In a single year, 14 Chinese workers were allegedly driven to suicide by unbearably harsh working practices at the Foxconn City industrial park, where they made electronics for giant US corporations. "--

Adam Grant’s “8 New Idea Books to Start Spring” Next Big Idea Club's Must-Read Books for May 2024 How our biases cause us to fall for misinformation—and how to combat it. Our lives are minefields of misinformation. It ripples through our social media feeds, our daily headlines, and the pronouncements of politicians, executives, and authors. Stories, statistics, and studies are everywhere, allowing people to find evidence to support whatever position they want. Many of these sources are flawed, yet by playing on our emotions and preying on our biases, they can gain widespread acceptance, warp our views, and distort our decisions. In this eye-opening book, renowned economist Alex Edmans teaches us how to separate fact from fiction. Using colorful examples—from a wellness guru’s tragic but fabricated backstory to the blunders that led to the Deepwater Horizon disaster to the diet that ensnared millions yet hastened its founder’s death—Edmans highlights the biases that cause us to mistake statements for facts, facts for data, data for evidence, and evidence for proof. Armed with the knowledge of what to guard against, he then provides a practical guide to combat this tide of misinformation. Going beyond simply checking the facts and explaining individual statistics, Edmans explores the relationships between statistics—the science of cause and effect—ultimately training us to think smarter, sharper, and more critically. May Contain Lies is an essential read for anyone who wants to make better sense of the world and better decisions.

"This paper presents a unified framework for understanding the determinants of both CEO incentives and total pay levels in competitive market equilibrium. It embeds a modified principal-agent problem into a talent assignment model to endogenize both elements of compensation. The model's closed form solutions yield testable predictions for how incentives should vary across firms under optimal contracting. In particular, our calibrations show that the negative relationship between the CEO's effective equity stake and firm size is quantitatively consistent with efficiency and need not reflect rent extraction. Our model and data both also imply that the dollar change in wealth for a percentage change in firm value, scaled by annual pay, is independent of firm size. This may render it an attractive incentive measure as it is comparable between firms and over time. The theory also predicts a positive relationship between pay volatility and firm volatility, and that risk and effort affect total pay along the cross-section but not in the aggregate. Finally, we demonstrate that incentive compensation is effective at solving large agency problems, such as selecting corporate strategy, but smaller issues such as perk consumption are best addressed through direct monitoring"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site

Şirketler kâr etmek için mi değer yaratmak için mi vardır? Çığır açan bu kitabında Prof. Alex Edmans ikisi arasında bir seçim yapılması gerekmediğini anlatıyor. Farklı sektörlerden ve ülkelerden örnekler vererek, değer yaratmayı amaçlayan şirketlerin uzun vadede tutarlı bir biçimde daha başarılı olduğunu gösteriyor. Ancak değer yaratmak isteyen şirketler güç kararlar vermek zorundadır. Alex Edmans amaçlarını gerçekleştirmek ve engelleri aşmak isteyen şirket liderleri için bir yol haritası sunuyor. Yatırımcılara hangi şirketlerin toplum ve hissedarlar için değer yaratabileceklerini anlamaları için ipuçları veriyor. Ayrıca sıradan vatandaşların daha iyi bir dünya yaratmak için işletmeleri nasıl etkileyebileceklerini anlatıyor. "Profesör Alex Edmans Pastayı Büyüt adlı derinlikli yeni kitabında bir işletmenin para kazanması için başkalarının zarar etmesi gerekmediğini ileri sürüyor. Edmans başlıca amacı toplum için değer yaratmak olan bir iş anlayışını savunuyor." ― Economist "Pastayı Büyüt şirketlere hem kâr hem de değer yaratma olanağı veren öncü bir yaklaşımı, çok sayıda sektör ve ülkeyi kapsayan titiz kanıtlar eşliğinde sunuyor. Hangi yatırımlara yönelmek gerektiğini söyleyen bir eylem çerçevesi getiriyor ve engellerin nasıl aşılacağını gösteriyor. Şirketler bunu uygulayarak hem yatırımcılara kâr sağlayabilir hem de topluma değer sunabilir." ― CEO Today

Le monde de l’entreprise est à bout de souffle. Épuisé par les crises économiques de ces dernières années, par les scandales successifs des catastrophes écologiques qu’il a provoquées et par la lutte incessante entre ses parties prenantes, il a besoin de renouveau. Pour sortir de cette impasse, il est urgent d’adopter une approche alternative, créatrice de profit pour les investisseurs et de valeur pour la société, c’est la Pieconomie. Ce concept aussi simple que révolutionnaire est au cœur de cet essai accessible et rigoureusement documenté : il s’agit de travailler ensemble pour accroître la taille du gâteau plutôt que de se disputer son partage. Alex Edmans nous explique comment mettre en pratique cette approche pour sortir de la théorie et comment la collaboration entre tous les acteurs peut devenir la meilleure arme des entreprises florissantes. « Le plaidoyer d'Edmans est un antidote puissant et convaincant à une grande partie des idées reçues sur le monde de l'entreprise » Oliver Hart, prix Nobel d'économie

O QUE É UM NEGÓCIO RESPONSÁVEL? AS EMPRESAS DEVEM SER ADMINISTRADAS PARA OBTER LUCRO OU PARA SERVIR A UM PROPÓSITO? O senso comum diz que um negócio responsável é aquele que sacrifica o lucro para atingir resultados sociais. Mas, embora trabalhar em favor da sociedade seja fundamental para as empresas, elas também têm o dever de gerar lucro para os investidores. Com base em evidências da mais alta qualidade e exemplos da vida real, Alex Edmans mostra que as duas coisas podem ser feitas ao mesmo tempo: pode-se gerar lucro e valor social. No entanto, as empresas mais bem-sucedidas não visam diretamente ao lucro, mas são movidas por um propósito: o desejo de atender a uma necessidade social e de contribuir para o desenvolvimento humano. Edmans mostra como líderes empresariais podem colocar o propósito em prática e superar obstáculos que os impedem de crescer, além de discutir a importância de trabalhar em colaboração com investidores, funcionários e clientes, explica como os investidores podem identificar empresas que têm um bom propósito e estejam dispostas a gerar valor tanto aos acionistas quanto para a sociedade.

Brealey: Principles of Corporate Finance bridges the gap between financial theory and practical application for corporate finance. It emphasizes the importance of understanding financial theory to adapt to non-routine situations and evolving market conditions. By explaining why companies and financial markets behave as they do, the book equips managers with the tools to make informed decisions, not just based on experience but backed by theory. The authors address controversies within financial theory, offering balanced viewpoints while emphasizing practical applications to increase company value. The latest edition of Principles of Corporate Finance represents a significant step forward in both clarity and pedagogy. Every chapter has been revised--some extensively--incorporating the expertise of Alex Edmans, a distinguished scholar in corporate finance. Principles focuses on making complex concepts more intuitive by breaking down dense material into bite-sized, easy-to-digest sections. Key terms and principles are now highlighted for quick reference, and long lists have been reorganized into structured bullet points with brief summaries. Where appropriate, mathematical and theoretical explanations have been replaced with real-world analogies and practical insights to ensure concepts resonate beyond the classroom. To further enhance student learning, Principles has expanded its Beyond the Page chapter features, now offering over 150 interactive applications that bring financial concepts to life. These resources allow students to explore real-world case studies, from understanding GameStop's speculative trading frenzy to analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on stock risk. New Sense Check boxes encourage students to critically assess financial calculations, ensuring they develop the intuition needed to avoid common errors in professional settings. Meanwhile, Common Confusions sections clarify frequently misunderstood concepts, helping students build a stronger foundation in corporate finance. Whether through the printed text, the interactive eBook, or Principles' extensive Connect tools, this edition provides a richer, more engaging learning experience than ever before.