The new Yale Center for Corporate Governance and Performance, established in June, takes an alternative, global perspective to corporate governance, with an aim to link corporate health with social welfare.

Ira M. Millstein, the center's director and senior associate dean for corporate governance at Yale School of Management, says the center's philosophy is that improved corporate performance leads to a better corporate world, in which corporations see themselves as intrinsic to the overall welfare of society.

"We think that corporations have responsibilities that are more than just the bottom line. They are responsible in whole many ways for the aggregate welfare of the society," he says.

Mr. Millstein shared what he considered some of the most influential books on corporate governance.

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