concepts
type: Collection
type: ConceptGroup
member: principal-agent relationship

power and institutional issues
type: Concept
narrower: principal-agent relationship

power and methodological issues
type: Concept
narrower: principal-agent relationship

power and political science
type: Concept
narrower: principal-agent relationship

principal-agent relationship
type: Concept
broader: power and political science
broader: power and methodological issues
broader: power and institutional issues
definition: The principal-agent model represents situations in which a supervisor (principal) delegates a task to a supervisee (agent) who has specialized knowledge about the task but also has objectives that are different from those of the principal. This is what occurs, for example, between an employer and an employee, between legislators and bureaucrats, between regulators and regulated firms, between voters and public officials in a representative democracy, and between managers and stockholders. [Source: Encyclopedia of Power; Principal-Agent Relationship]