Abstract
This chapter surveys available literature on corporate governance’s role in the pioneering activity of high-tech firms. It addresses the argument that a value-protection perspective only provides a partial understanding of the scope of corporate governance in high-tech companies, and that a value-creation perspective should be used instead. It then analyzes three dimensions of corporate governance: external governance mechanisms, ownership structure, and internal governance mechanisms. This analysis shows that the value-protection dimension of corporate governance is usually limited in high-tech companies.