Corporate Governance and Entrepreneurial Firms takes an in-depth look at corporate governance mechanisms in entrepreneurial firms, and offers an explanation on how and why they differ from those mechanisms in large and publicly traded corporations. While questions of corporate governance are mainly discussed and analyzed within the context of large and public companies, there is only scarce evidence on corporate governance issues arising in small- or medium-sized firms. To this end the motivation for this article is to direct attention to corporate governance in entrepreneurial firms. Corporate Governance and Entrepreneurial Firms develops a conceptual framework that may help to analyze corporate governance mechanisms in entrepreneurial firms, and serve as a leading example that compares the entrepreneurial firm with other types of firms. By capturing the mechanisms of corporate governance within an interval ranging from purely market mechanisms over contractual agreements to strong hierarchical elements, and integrating microeconomic and financial theories with the management perspective, the authors provide a unique viewpoint and summary, identifying several ideas to stimulate future research on this important and growing topic.

1. Introduction -- 2. Corporate governance in entrepreneurial firms: a conceptual framework -- 3. Cultural and societal background -- 4. The entrepreneur -- 5. The entrepreneurial firm -- 6. The entrepreneur and the separation of ownership and control -- 7. Mechanisms in corporate governance -- 8. Performace of entrepreneurial firms -- 9. Summary and suggestions for future research.