13993. Institutional Investors and Corporate Governance. This research paper assesses the role of institutional investors in corporate governance, focusing specifically on U.S. corporations, but also considering comparative data from other countries. The analysis begins with an overview of the rise of institutional investors and a profile of their scope and presence in the equity market. The next section of the paper considers the influence of institutional investors on corporate governance from the theoretical perspective, examining the principal-agent problem and considering the potential areas of institutional investor influence within the scope of current regulations and corporate structures. Another section examines the empirical and case literature studying the actual activities and influence of institutional investors in corporate governance, assessing the evidence of their impact in terms of corporate performance, management efficiency, corporate social performance, and effect on small (individual shareholders). KEYWORDS: corporate governance term paper institutional investors corporate management finance. APA Style. 34 pages, 62 footnotes, 25 bibliographic sources. 8,333 words.