Voluntaristic governance
In her study of professional accountability systems of public librarians, Bundt (2002) uses agency theory(Eisenhardt, 1989) as a point of departure to explore how stewardship theory(Davis et. al.1997) may explain governance structures. Departing from the organizational conclustions of agency theory that focus on agent shirking and selfinterest, Bundt (2002: 760) finds evidence of strategic stewardship – agents motivated by broader organization. Bundt concludes that governance structures to ensure accountability can reasonably rely on coincidence between librarians interests and the interests of the organization. This approach hints, more than most others from the U.S. literature, that individual behavior is not necessarily prescribed by fixed individual utility functions or set environmental conditions.