Enterprise Foundations. A Review. Law, Taxation, Governance, and Performance

Annals of Corporate Governance: Vol. 6, No. 4, pp 227–333 (2022), DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/109.00000031

108 Pages Posted: 6 Aug 2022

See all articles by Steen Thomsen

Steen Thomsen

Copenhagen Business School; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Nikolaos Kavadis

Copenhagen Business School

Date Written: August 2, 2022

Abstract

Enterprise foundations are foundations that own companies. While this structure is little known outside Northern Europe, a number of leading global companies, such as Robert Bosch, Rolex, Carlsberg, Hershey, Ikea, the Wallenberg sphere, or the Tata Group, are ultimately owned by foundations. Aside from their economic significance, enterprise foundations have interesting governance characteristics including long-term ownership, the absence of a personal profit motive, and the combination of business and philanthropy. Recently, they have attracted attention as a safeguard for a company purpose. In this paper, we review the limited, but growing, literature on the topic focusing on law, taxation, governance, and performance. We conclude by considering policy implications and avenues for research.

Keywords: enterprise foundations, industrial foundations, economic performance, law, taxation, sustainability, corporate governance

JEL Classification: G32, G34, L21, L33

Suggested Citation

Thomsen, Steen and Kavadis, Nikolaos, Enterprise Foundations. A Review. Law, Taxation, Governance, and Performance (August 2, 2022). Annals of Corporate Governance: Vol. 6, No. 4, pp 227–333 (2022), DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/109.00000031 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4179401

Steen Thomsen

Copenhagen Business School ( email )

Porcelaenshaven 24A
Copenhagen, 2000
Denmark
+45 38152590 (Phone)
+45 38152500 (Fax)

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

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

Nikolaos Kavadis (Contact Author)

Copenhagen Business School ( email )

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