We argue that the norms underlying agency theory can be inappropriate for interpreting the ethicality of corporate governance decisions and behaviors of Russians because they were developed in countries with mature market-oriented economies. We posit that integrative social contracts theory has more explanatory power, taking into account two sets of often-conflicting values: traditional Russian values and market-oriented values. We describe three examples of ethical conflict in Russian corporate governance arising from these two sets of values and discuss implications for Western managers interacting with Russians in this crucial area of business activity.

Prior studies of IPO underpricing, mostly using agency theory and single‐country samples, have generally fallen short. In this study, we employ the knowledge‐based view ( KBV ) to explore underpricing across 17 countries. We find that agency indicators are insignificant predictors, board of director knowledge limits underpricing, and external knowledge both substitutes for and complements internal board knowledge. This third finding suggests that future KBV studies should consider how internal and external knowledge states interact with each other. Our study offers new insights into the antecedents of underpricing and extends our understanding of comparative governance and the KBV of the firm . Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.