Trust as 'Uncorporation': A Research Agenda

Abstract

Trust has long been a competitor of corporation as a form of business organization. Though corporation today dominates trust for operating enterprises, trust dominates corporation in certain specialized niches. The market value of these niches measures in the trillions of dollars. Yet the modern business trust has only recently begun to be subjected to scholarly inquiry. Accordingly, this essay outlines a research agenda for the study of the trust - in particular, the modern statutory business trust - as a form of business organization. Put into the parlance of the conference on which this symposium issue is based, this essay is a call for research on the business trust as "uncorporation."

Keywords: trust, business trust, business organization, corporation, mutual fund, securitization, structured finance, statutory business trust

JEL Classification: K22, L22