Can Corporations Be Held to the Public Interest, or Even to the Law?

Ciepley, David

doi:10.1007/s10551-018-3894-2

Cited by 21 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Similarly, we differentiate between the 'purpose' an enterprise can follow (without stipulating it in its by-laws) and the 'corporate purpose' [objet social] as the formally stated purpose in the by-laws of the corporation. substantial privilege bestowed upon a group by the state" (Ciepley 2018). The artificial nature of the corporation is also evident by virtue of the fact that the corporate contract creates a "sempiternal legal person" (Stout 2019), i.e., a person that can in theory exist forever.…”

Section: State/private and Aggregate/separate Entities: The Main Dimementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The corporate form "is ailing social technology" (Metcalf and Benn 2012); it pursues private interests but presumably with no interest in humanity. The legal features of the corporate form, such as limited liability, allow for certain irresponsible conducts (Ireland 2010;Ciepley 2018;Mayer 2013). And this is all the more worrying given that the new technologies that are being developed by contemporary corporations, such as artificial intelligence, are creating an unpredictable future (Mulgan 2018).…”

Section: The Quest For Corporate Social Responsibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the many proposals designed to reduce corporate irresponsibility (e.g., changes in CEO compensation) is to allow a majority of the voting stock of a corporation to be held by a non-profit organization, or "industrial foundation" (Mayer 2013;Ciepley 2018). Such shareholder foundations "are normally chartered for combined business and charitable purposes" (Ciepley 2018(Ciepley , p.1015. Their main advantage would be to insulate the control of the corporation from the influence of short-term shareholders and allow for the needs of various stakeholders to be taken into consideration in the long run.…”

Section: The Quest For Corporate Social Responsibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the historical background may be quite similar in other countries (Djelic 2013;Ireland 2010;Guinnane et al 2007Guinnane et al , 2017Ciepley 2018), it is important to contextualize the present reform in the history of French corporate law, in particular regarding the role played by the corporate purpose.…”

Section: The French Reform From a Historical Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

“…As they have become global and extraordinarily powerful organizations, it has also become clear that they can threaten social equilibria as well as life itself on our planet (Metcalf and Benn 2012). Therefore, scholars are increasingly calling into question corporate governance and the legal features of the corporation, such as limited liability (Ireland 2010;Mayer 2013;Ciepley 2018). In this context, the French corporate law reform may be meaningful for the debate on the corporation and the legal conditions of corporate responsibility.…”

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confidence: 99%

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When the Law Distinguishes Between the Enterprise and the Corporation: The Case of the New French Law on Corporate Purpose

2020

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A recent French reform has revised the legal definition of the corporation. In essence, the law stipulates that the corporation must be run with due regard to the social and environmental impacts of its activity. It also introduces the notion of raison d'être and affords the possibility for any corporation to assign social or environmental purposes to itself, defined in its bylaws. This reform is similar to recent reforms in the UK and the US, but is based on an original and distinctive theoretical argument. The aim of our article is to analyze the fundamental tenets of this reform and their implications for the theory of the corporation. It shows that the new law is based on a new positive definition of the enterprise as not only an economic organization or a productive entity, but more fundamentally a space for innovative collective action. We argue that this view of the enterprise challenges our conceptualization of the corporation in two important ways. First, it shows that the traditional theories overlook the activities of the enterprise and their related impacts, and that the corporation is not necessarily the appropriate legal vehicle for the innovative enterprise. Second, it suggests that the stipulation of the enterprise's purpose or raison d'être in the corporate by-laws can provide new promising legal foundations for corporate responsibility.

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Section: State/private and Aggregate/separate Entities: The Main Dimementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Quest For Corporate Social Responsibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Quest For Corporate Social Responsibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The French Reform From a Historical Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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When the Law Distinguishes Between the Enterprise and the Corporation: The Case of the New French Law on Corporate Purpose

2020

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Corporate Social Responsibility in Denmark

Toft

Rendtorff

2021

CSR, Sustainability, Ethics &Amp; Governance

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In recent years the discussion concerning the relation between business and society has made immense strides. This has in turn led to a broad academic and practical discussion on innovative management concepts, such as Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Governance and Sustainability Management. This series offers a comprehensive overview of the latest theoretical and empirical research and provides sound concepts for sustainable business strategies. In order to do so, it combines the insights of leading researchers and thinkers in the fields of management theory and the social sciencesand from all over the world, thus contributing to the interdisciplinary and intercultural discussion on the role of business in society. The underlying intention of this series is to help solve the world's most challenging problems by developing new management concepts that create value for business and society alike. In order to support those managers, researchers and students who are pursuing sustainable business approaches for our common future, the series offers them access to cutting-edge management approaches.

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How to Deter Financial Misconduct if Crime Pays?

et al. 2021

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Financial misconduct has come into the spotlight in recent years, causing market regulators to increase the reach and severity of interventions. We show that at times the economic benefits of illicit financial activity outweigh the costs of litigation. We illustrate our argument with data from the US Securities and Exchanges Commission and a case of investment misconduct. From the neoclassical economic paradigm, which follows utilitarian thinking, it is rational to engage in misconduct. Still, the majority of professionals refrain from misconduct, foregoing economic rewards. We suggest financial activity could be reimagined taking into account intrinsic and prosocial motivations. A virtue ethics framework could also be applied, linking financial behavior to the quest for moral excellence and shared flourishing. By going beyond utilitarian thinking and considering alternative models, we offer a fuller account of financial behavior and a better perspective from which to design deterrence methods.

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Can Corporations Be Held to the Public Interest, or Even to the Law?

Cited by 21 publications

References 12 publications

When the Law Distinguishes Between the Enterprise and the Corporation: The Case of the New French Law on Corporate Purpose

When the Law Distinguishes Between the Enterprise and the Corporation: The Case of the New French Law on Corporate Purpose

Corporate Social Responsibility in Denmark

How to Deter Financial Misconduct if Crime Pays?

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