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1. The need to effectively govern and manage communal rangeland resources has become more important over the past two decades, given the extent of biodiversity loss caused by a myriad of drivers interacting at different scales. 2. Using in-depth interviews, participant observations, and historical information from organisational records, we analysed the application of governance objectives between 1947 and 2017 and their corresponding rangeland condition outcome in Machubeni (South Africa) communal lands. 3. The results show that while the application of governance objectives varied through time, there has been a steady degradation of local rangeland resources since apartheid, due to internal and external drivers of change. This reveals a disconnection between management and resource conditions, suggesting that a return to effective governance alone will not necessarily result in improved rangeland condition in Machubeni, but that more radical steps such as prolonged periods of resting, reseeding and building individual and group agency, are needed. These findings can help practitioners working in post-colonial territories to design effective rangeland management models.

Despite several decades of research on governance, very little is known about processes and practices of governing and, crucially, the links between governing and organisational performance. This has led to calls to penetrate the ‘black box’ of the boardroom by conducting research which draws on data gathered through direct observation. Such calls, however, have so far produced a rather sparse and inchoate literature which would benefit from review in order to give shape to the field and provide direction for future research. Here, we critically examine the findings of this research, focusing on three emergent themes: (1) the extent to which empirical research supports the established theories in the field, particularly agency and stewardship theories; (2) what research says about ‘good’ and ‘effective’ governance and the relationship between them; and (3) the methodological and conceptual orientations which frame this research, and the claims made for ‘processual’ approaches. We conclude with an agenda for taking the field forward in order to extend knowledge and to contribute to theory around governing.

В последнее время в связи с активным процессом интеграции корпораций в единое экономическое сообщество наблюдается повышенное внимание к вопросу корпоративного управления как отдельными странами, так и на международном уровне. Актуальность проблемы корпоративного управления связана с реализацией некоторых важнейших задач корпорациями, среди которых можно назвать повышение конкурентоспособности компаний на рынке, соблюдение интересов всех финансовозаинтересованных лиц, разделение полномочий между собственниками и акционерами, обеспечение эффективного механизма управления собственностью, повышение инвестиционной привлекательности корпораций. Коммерческие банки не остаются в стороне от мировых тенденций в части развития практики корпоративного управления и стремятся соответствовать лучшим мировым практикам. В связи с вышеизложенным, особую актуальность приобретают теоретические исследования, направленные на развитие представлений о специфике корпоративного управления в банковской сфере, его моделях, способах оценки качества управления, перспективах распространения его лучших образцов среди коммерческих банков. В этой связи целью настоящей работы является изучение зарубежного опыта корпоративного управления в банковской сфере и формирование направлений совершенствования российской практики корпоративного управления., In recent years, due to the active process of integration of corporations into the single economic community, there has been increased attention to the issue of corporate governance both in individual countries and at the international level. The urgency of the problem of corporate governance is associated with the implementation of some of the most important tasks of corporations, including improving the competitiveness of companies in the market, respect for the interests of all financial stakeholders, the division of powers between owners and shareholders, ensuring an effective mechanism of property management, increasing the investment attractiveness of corporations. Commercial banks do not remain aloof from global trends in the development of corporate governance practices and strive to comply with the best international practices. In connection with the above, theoretical studies aimed at the development of ideas about the specifics of corporate governance in the banking sector, its models, methods for assessing the quality of management, the prospects for the distribution of its best examples among commercial banks are of particular relevance. In this regard, the purpose of this article is to study the foreign experience of corporate governance in the banking sector and the formation of areas of improvement of the Russian corporate governance practice.

Most recent work on Boards of Directors has been focused on what can be considered best practices for effective governance in terms of roles, composition, process and style. Furthermore, this literature can be divided among very practically oriented managerial work, and more rigorous, theoretically based work. Most of the empirical research in this area has been centered on Anglo-Saxon countries. Some European countries, like Spain, have a very different governance tradition. Given this context, our present work pursues with three complementary objectives: 1. To ascertain the current status of governance practices in Spain. 2. To obtain evidence about which of these practices may be associated with effective governance. 3. To find out what factors account for the composition of General Managers’ compensation.

We illustrate the benefits of game theoretic analysis for assisting decision-makers in resolving conflicts and other challenges in a rapidly evolving region. We review a series of salient Arctic issues with global implications—managing open-access fisheries, opening Arctic areas for resource extraction and ensuring effective environmental regulation for natural resource extraction—and provide insights to help reach socially preferred outcomes. We provide an overview of game theoretic analysis in layman’s terms, explaining how game theory can help researchers and decision-makers to better understand conflicts, and how to identify the need for, and improve the design of, policy interventions. We believe that game theoretic tools are particularly useful in a region with a diverse set of players ranging from countries to firms to individuals. We argue that the Arctic Council should take a more active governing role in the region by, for example, dispersing information to “players” in order to alleviate conflicts regarding the management of common-pool resources such as open-access fisheries and natural resource extraction. We also identify side payments—that is, monetary or in-kind compensation from one party of a conflict to another—as a key mechanism for reaching a more biologically, culturally and economically sustainable Arctic future. By emphasizing the practical insights generated from an academic discipline, we present game theory as an influential tool in shaping the future of the Arctic—for individual researchers, for inter-disciplinary research and for policy-makers themselves. Keywords : Arctic futures; Arctic games; environmental regulation; resource contests; side payments; effective governance. (Published: 8 August 2014) Citation : Polar Research 2014, 33 , 23357, http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/polar.v33.23357