The Modern Corporation Statement on Company Law

4 Pages Posted: 29 Oct 2016 Last revised: 29 Oct 2016

See all articles by Lynn A. Stout

Lynn A. Stout

Cornell Law School - Jack G. Clarke Business Law Institute (deceased)

Jean-Philippe Robé

SciencesPo

Paddy Ireland

University of Bristol

Simon Deakin

University of Cambridge - Centre for Business Research (CBR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); University of Cambridge - Faculty of Law

Kent Greenfield

Boston College Law School

Andrew Johnston

Warwick Law School

Harm Schepel

University of Kent - Kent Law School

Margaret M. Blair

Vanderbilt University - Law School

Lorraine E. Talbot

University of York - York Law School; University of Birmingham - Birmingham Law School

Alan J. Dignam

Queen Mary University of London - School of Law

Janet Dine

Queen Mary, University of London, (CCLS)

David Millon

Washington and Lee University - School of Law

Beate Sjåfjell

University of Oslo - Faculty of Law; College of Europe - European Legal Studies Department; EUSFIL Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence

Charlotte Villiers

University of Bristol

Cynthia A. Williams

Indiana University Maurer School of Law

Marios Koutsias

University of Essex - School of Law

Andrew Pendleton

University of York (UK)

Gerald F. Davis

University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business

Michael Galanis

University of Manchester - School of Law

David Chandler

The Business School, University of Colorado Denver

Andrew R. Keay

University of Leeds - School of Law

Marc T. Moore

University College London - Faculty of Laws

Jean Du Plessis

Deakin University, Geelong, Australia - Deakin Law School

Andrea J Bather

University of Waikato - Management School

Beau Linton Lefler

The University of Hong Kong - School of Business

Carrie Bradshaw

University of Leeds

Christopher M. Bruner

University of Georgia School of Law; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Thomas Wuil Joo

University of California, Davis - School of Law

Daniel J.H. Greenwood

Hofstra University College of Law

Thomas Clarke

University of Technology, Sydney

Lyman Johnson

Washington and Lee University - School of Law; University of St. Thomas, St. Paul/Minneapolis, MN - School of Law

Floriana Mulazzi

University of Brescia

Martin Lipton

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

Carol Liao

University of British Columbia (UBC), Faculty of Law

Rebecca Johnson

University of Victoria - Faculty of Law

Anat Alon-Beck

Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Greg Markel

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Wendy Currie

Audencia School of Management

Frank Partnoy

University of California, Berkeley - School of Law

Leonardo F. Peklar

INSEAD

Alexandre Di Miceli da Silveira

Alvares Penteado School of Business (Fecap)

Ofer Sitbon

Independent

Cesar González-Cantón

Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) - Colegio Universitario de Estudios Financieros (CUNEF); Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) - Colegio Universitario de Estudios Financieros (CUNEF); Humanistic Management Network

Jean-Pierre Chanteau

Université Grenoble Alpes

Angela Rita Franco Donaggio

São Paulo Law School of Fundação Getulio Vargas FGV DIREITO SP

Irene-Marie Esser

University of Glasgow; University of Stellenbosch

Gill North

Griffith University Law School

Sergio Alberto Gramitto Ricci

NYU School of Law; University of Missouri at Kansas City - School of Law

Roman Tomasic

University of South Australia; Durham University - Law School

Renginee G Pillay

University of Greenwich - School of Law

Ciarán O'Kelly

Queen's University Belfast - School of Law

Con Keating

Independent

Hugh Christopher Willmott

Cardiff Business School; City University London - The Business School

Jeroen Veldman

Nyenrode Business university

Paige Morrow

UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression; Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID); ARTICLE 19

Date Written: October 6, 2016

Abstract

Corporations play a central role in modern economies. Certain beliefs about corporations and corporate law are widely held and relied upon by business experts, the financial press, and economists who study the firm. Unfortunately, some of these widely-held beliefs are mistaken. This has led to numerous common errors in the way corporate law concepts are understood and applied. The authors of this Summary are experts versed in a variety of national legal systems, including those of the U.S. and U.K. as well as the E.U. We provide this simple Summary of certain fundamentals of corporate law, applicable in almost all jurisdictions, in an effort to help prevent analytical errors which can have severe and damaging effects on corporations and corporate governance.

Keywords: Company, Law, Corporate, Governance

JEL Classification: G30, G32

Suggested Citation

Stout, Lynn A. and Robé, Jean-Philippe and Ireland, Philip and Deakin, Simon F. and Greenfield, Kent and Johnston, Andrew and Schepel, Harm and Blair, Margaret M. and Talbot, Lorraine E. and Dignam, Alan J. and Dine, Janet and Millon, David K. and Sjåfjell, Beate and Villiers, Charlotte Louise and Williams, Cynthia A. and Koutsias, Marios and Pendleton, Andrew and Davis, Gerald F. and Galanis, Michael and Chandler, David and Keay, Andrew R. and Moore, Marc T. and Du Plessis, Jean and Bather, Andrea J and Lefler, Beau Linton and Bradshaw, Carrie and Bruner, Christopher M. and Joo, Thomas Wuil and Greenwood, Daniel J.H. and Clarke, Thomas and Johnson, Lyman P. Q. and Mulazzi, Floriana and Lipton, Martin and Liao, Carol and Johnson, Rebecca and Alon-Beck, Anat and Markel, Greg and Currie, Wendy and Partnoy, Frank and Peklar, Leonardo F. and Di Miceli da Silveira, Alexandre and Sitbon, Ofer and González-Cantón, Cesar and González-Cantón, Cesar and Chanteau, Jean-Pierre and Donaggio, Angela Rita Franco and Esser, Irene-Marie and North, Gill and Gramitto Ricci, Sergio Alberto and Tomasic, Roman A. and Pillay, Renginee G and O'Kelly, Ciarán and Keating, Con and Willmott, Hugh Christopher and Willmott, Hugh Christopher and Veldman, Jeroen and Morrow, Paige, The Modern Corporation Statement on Company Law (October 6, 2016). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2848833 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2848833

Lynn A. Stout

Cornell Law School - Jack G. Clarke Business Law Institute (deceased)

Jean-Philippe Robé

SciencesPo ( email )

Rue de l'Université 13
Paris
France

Philip Ireland

University of Bristol ( email )

Simon F. Deakin

University of Cambridge - Centre for Business Research (CBR) ( email )

Top Floor, Judge Business School Building
Trumpington Street
Cambridge, CB2 1AG
United Kingdom
+ 44 1223 335243 (Phone)

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium

HOME PAGE: http://www.ecgi.org

University of Cambridge - Faculty of Law ( email )

10 West Road
Cambridge, CB3 9DZ
United Kingdom

Kent Greenfield

Boston College Law School ( email )

885 Centre Street
Newton, MA 02459-1163
United States
617-552-3167 (Phone)
617-552-4098 (Fax)

Andrew Johnston

Warwick Law School ( email )

Gibbet Hill Rd.
Coventry, West Midlands CV4 8UW
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/people/andrew_r_johnston/

Harm Schepel

University of Kent - Kent Law School ( email )

Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NS
United Kingdom

Margaret M. Blair

Vanderbilt University - Law School ( email )

131 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203-1181
United States
615-322-6087 (Phone)

Lorraine E. Talbot

University of York - York Law School

York YO10
United Kingdom

University of Birmingham - Birmingham Law School ( email )

Edgbaston
Birmingham, AL B15 2TT
United Kingdom

Alan J. Dignam

Queen Mary University of London - School of Law ( email )

67-69 Lincoln's Inn Fields
London, WC2A 3JB
United Kingdom
0207 8828123 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.qmul.ac.uk/staff/dignam.html

Janet Dine

Queen Mary, University of London, (CCLS) ( email )

Charterhouse Square
London, EC1M 6AX
United Kingdom

David K. Millon

Washington and Lee University - School of Law ( email )

Lexington, VA 24450
United States
540-458-8993 (Phone)
540-458-8586 (Fax)

Beate Sjåfjell

University of Oslo - Faculty of Law ( email )

PO Box 6706 St Olavsplass
Oslo, 0130
Norway

HOME PAGE: http://www.jus.uio.no/ifp/english/people/aca/beatesj/

College of Europe - European Legal Studies Department ( email )

Dijver 11
B-8000 Brugge, Oost Vlanderen 10000
Belgium

EUSFIL Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence ( email )

Italy

Charlotte Louise Villiers

University of Bristol ( email )

University of Bristol,
Senate House, Tyndall Avenue
Bristol, Avon BS8 ITH
United Kingdom

Cynthia A. Williams

Indiana University Maurer School of Law ( email )

211 S. Indiana Avenue
Bloomington, IN 47405
United States

Marios Koutsias

University of Essex - School of Law ( email )

Colchester, Essex CO43SQ
United Kingdom

Andrew Pendleton

University of York (UK) ( email )

Heslington
York YO10 5DD
United Kingdom

Gerald F. Davis

University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business ( email )

701 Tappan Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1234
United States
734-647-4737 (Phone)
734-936-0282 (Fax)

Michael Galanis

University of Manchester - School of Law ( email )

United Kingdom

David Chandler

The Business School, University of Colorado Denver ( email )

1250 14th St.
Denver, CO 80204
United States

Andrew R. Keay

University of Leeds - School of Law ( email )

Corporate and Commercial Law
Leeds LS2 9JT
United Kingdom
0113-343-6389 (Phone)

Marc T. Moore

University College London - Faculty of Laws ( email )

Bentham House
4-8 Endsleigh Gardens
London, WC1E OEG
United Kingdom

Jean Du Plessis

Deakin University, Geelong, Australia - Deakin Law School ( email )

221 Burwood Highway
Burwood
Burwood, Victoria 3125, Victoria 3125
Australia

Andrea J Bather

University of Waikato - Management School ( email )

Hamilton
New Zealand

Beau Linton Lefler

The University of Hong Kong - School of Business ( email )

Meng Wah Complex
Pokfulam Road
Hong Kong
China

Carrie Bradshaw

University of Leeds ( email )

Leeds, LS2 9JT
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://essl.leeds.ac.uk/law/staff/686/dr-carrie-bradshaw

Christopher M. Bruner

University of Georgia School of Law ( email )

225 Herty Drive
Athens, GA 30602
United States

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium

Thomas Wuil Joo

University of California, Davis - School of Law ( email )

Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall
400 Mrak Hall Dr.
Davis, CA 95616-5201
United States
(530) 754-6089 (Phone)
(530) 752-4704 (Fax)

Daniel J.H. Greenwood

Hofstra University College of Law ( email )

121 Hofstra University
Hempstead, NY 11549
United States
516-463-7013 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://law.hofstra.edu/greenwood

Thomas Clarke

University of Technology, Sydney ( email )

Haymarket Campus
PO BOX 123 Broadway
Sydney, New South Wales 2007
Australia
+61 2 9514 3479 (Phone)
+61 2 9514 3817 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.ccg.uts.edu.au

Lyman P. Q. Johnson

Washington and Lee University - School of Law ( email )

Lexington, VA 24450
United States
540-458-8515 (Phone)
540-458-8488 (Fax)

University of St. Thomas, St. Paul/Minneapolis, MN - School of Law

MSL 400, 1000 La Salle Avenue
Minneapolis, MN Minnesota 55403-2005
United States

Floriana Mulazzi

University of Brescia ( email )

Piazza del Mercato, 15
25122 Brescia
Italy

Martin Lipton

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz ( email )

51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019
United States
212-403-1000 (Phone)
212-403-2000 (Fax)

Carol Liao

University of British Columbia (UBC), Faculty of Law ( email )

University of British Columbia
1822 East Mall
Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://allard.ubc.ca/about-us/our-people/carol-liao

Rebecca Johnson

University of Victoria - Faculty of Law ( email )

PO Box 2400, STN CSC
McGill at Ring Rd (Fraser Bldg)
Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3H7
Canada
250-721-8187 (Phone)
250-721-8146 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.uvic.ca/rjohnson/

Anat Alon-Beck

Case Western Reserve University School of Law ( email )

11075 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106-7148
United States
2163683311 (Phone)

Greg Markel

Seyfarth Shaw LLP ( email )

One Century Plaza, Suite 3500
2029 Century Park East
Los Angeles, CA 90067-3021
United States

Wendy Currie

Audencia School of Management ( email )

8 Route de la Joneliere
Nantes Cedex 3, 44312
France

Frank Partnoy

University of California, Berkeley - School of Law ( email )

215 Law Building
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
United States

Leonardo F. Peklar

INSEAD ( email )

Boulevard de Constance
77305 Fontainebleau Cedex
France

Alexandre Di Miceli da Silveira

Alvares Penteado School of Business (Fecap) ( email )

Av. Liberdade, 532
Liberdade
São Paulo
Brazil
+5511945909031 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://lattes.cnpq.br/4773608871754250

Ofer Sitbon

Independent ( email )

Cesar González-Cantón

Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) - Colegio Universitario de Estudios Financieros (CUNEF) ( email )

Serrano Anguita 9
Madrid, Madrid 28004
Spain

Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) - Colegio Universitario de Estudios Financieros (CUNEF) ( email )

Serrano Anguita 9
Madrid, Madrid 28004
Spain

Humanistic Management Network ( email )

St. Gallen
Switzerland

Jean-Pierre Chanteau

Université Grenoble Alpes ( email )

France

Angela Rita Franco Donaggio

São Paulo Law School of Fundação Getulio Vargas FGV DIREITO SP ( email )

R. Rocha, 233, Bela Vista
São Paulo, 01330-000
Brazil

Irene-Marie Esser

University of Glasgow ( email )

School of Law
Glasgow, Scotland G12 8LE
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/law/staff/irene-marieesser/

University of Stellenbosch ( email )

Private Bag X1
Stellenbosch, Western Cape 7602
South Africa

HOME PAGE: http://blogs.sun.ac.za/law/handelsreg-mercantile-law/

Gill North

Griffith University Law School ( email )

Burwood
Burwood, Victoria 3125, Victoria 3125
Australia

Sergio Alberto Gramitto Ricci

NYU School of Law ( email )

4153280756 (Phone)

University of Missouri at Kansas City - School of Law ( email )

5100 Rockhill Road
Kansas City, MO 64110-2499
United States

Roman A. Tomasic

University of South Australia ( email )

GPO Box 2471
ADELAIDE
City West, 5001
Australia

Durham University - Law School ( email )

Palatine Centre
Stockton Road
Durham, Durham
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.durham.ac.uk

Renginee G Pillay

University of Greenwich - School of Law ( email )

CampusOld Royal Naval College
Park Row
London, SE10 9LS
United Kingdom

Ciarán O'Kelly

Queen's University Belfast - School of Law ( email )

School of Law
Belfast BT7 1NN, BT7 1NN
Ireland

Con Keating

Independent ( email )

Hugh Christopher Willmott

Cardiff Business School ( email )

Cardiff CF10 3EU
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/site/hughwillmottshomepage

City University London - The Business School ( email )

106 Bunhill Row
London, EC1Y 8TZ
United Kingdom

Jeroen Veldman (Contact Author)

Nyenrode Business university ( email )

Straatweg 25
P.O. Box 130
Breukelen, 3620 AC
Netherlands

Paige Morrow

UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression ( email )

Palais Wilson
52 rue des Pâquis
Geneva, 1201
Switzerland

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) ( email )

PO Box 136
Geneva, CH-1211
Switzerland

ARTICLE 19 ( email )

60 Farringdon Road
London, EC1R 1UQ
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://https://article19.org

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
3,035
Abstract Views
13,718
Rank
8,254
PlumX Metrics