Entrepreneurs and Democracy: A Political Theory of Corporate Governance

by Pierre-Yves Gomez , Harry Korine

• ISBN13: 9780521856386
• ISBN10: 0521856388
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-06-02
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

What legitimizes power within a corporation? This question is of concern to the millions of citizens whose lives depend upon the fate of business corporations. The rules, institutions and practices of corporate governance define the limits of the power to direct, and determine under what conditions this power is acceptable. Effective corporate governance has long been defined in terms of economic performance. More recent studies have focused on philosophical, political and historical analyses. Entrepreneurs and Democracy unites these strands of inquiry - the legitimacy of power, the evolution of multiple forms of governance and the economics of performance - and proposes a framework for future study. It explores the opposing tensions of entrepreneurial force and social fragmentation that form the basis of legitimate corporate governance in modern societies. In doing so, it identifies a common logic that links both the democratization of corporate governance and the growth of economic performance.

Author Biography

Harry Korine is Teaching Fellow in Strategic and International Management at the London Business School and Senior Research Fellow at IFGE, Lyon.

Table of Contents

List of figures and tables

Introduction

Establishing the Ideological Foundations

The Contribution of Liberal Political Philosophy

The invisible crown: political foundations of the legitimate entrepreneur

Society fragmented and the role of democracy

Understanding How Corporate Governance Evolves

The Contribution of History

Familial governance (c. 1800-1920): economic enfranchisement and the founder as entrepreneur

Managerial governance (c. 1920-1970): separation of powers and management as the entrepreneur

Post managerial governance (from c. 1970): ownership of the large corporation reaches unprecedented mass and fragments into multiple poles

Interpreting public governance: representation and debate signify a new step towards democratization

Corporate Governance and Performance

The pure economic model of corporate governance: an analysis

Critique of the pure economic model of corporate governance

Economic performance, corporate governance, and the fragmentation of ownership

Epilogue

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