Corporate Governance and Long-Term, “Patient” Capital

Not long ago, many American investors held that innovation took time to develop and that capital needed to be “patient” to realize a reasonable rate of return. Today, the converse is true: there is now great emphasis put on short-term monetary returns and the need for immediate gratification on capital investments.

On March 14, Governance Studies at Brookings hosted a discussion exploring how “impatient” capital can harm the economy by reducing incentives for innovation and shortening the time horizon for business managers. A panel of experts examined how policy and regulatory mechanisms should be structured to incentivize the business sector to refocus on longer-term time horizons and “patient” business practices.

After the program, panelists took questions from the audience. Participants followed the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag: #PatientCap.