Summary and Discussion Questions

This chapter introduces the role and responsibilities of the shareholder – legal, theoretical, practical, actual, philosophical, and even cultural/anthropological. The discussion begins with these questions:

• What problems with traditional notions of ownership was the corporate form intended to solve?
• How was it intended to solve them?
• What have been the consequences (intended and unintended) of this corporate model?
• How do we determine who is in the best position to make a given decision, and does this person/group have the authority to make it?

One of the most critical elements in understanding corporate governance is recognizing the various inhibitions and obstacles to the theoretical elements of shareholder oversight that legitimize the corporate structure.