The Clarke Program on Corporations and Society studies the impact of business corporations on our economy, society, political system, and planet.
Corporations are among the most powerful institutions on the planet. They rival nation states in their wealth and influence. US corporations alone control $40,000,000,000,000 in assets.
What impact do corporations have on our economy, society, political system, and planet? The Clarke Program on Corporations & Society seeks to develop and promote a better understanding of the answer to this question. It recognizes the enormous potential that business corporations have to benefit society and help us address our most pressing problems: mitigating climate change, expanding human life spans, raising living standards, developing vital new technologies, providing well-paying jobs, earning returns for investors that allow a secure retirement.
The Clarke Program on Corporations & Society supports research, conferences, scholarship, and communications initiatives to promote a better understanding of the nature of corporations and the role they play in our society.
The Clarke Program on Corporations & Society is based at the Cornell Law School in Ithaca, New York. The Director of Corporations & Society is Lynn Stout, Distinguished Professor of Corporate and Business Law. Stout is an internationally recognized expert in corporate governance, financial regulation, business ethics, and law and economics who has published numerous books and articles on these subjects and lectures widely. The Assistant Director of Corporations & Society is Sergio Alberto Gramitto Ricci, Adjunct Professor of Law and Postdoctoral Associate at Cornell Law School. Gramitto Ricci holds a PhD in Business Law from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy and specializes in the nature and the evolution of public corporations since Roman times and modern comparative corporate governance.
Issues We Are Looking At
Shareholder Activism and Short-Termism
Shares in US Corporations today are held for an average of six months or less. Shareholder activist campaigns accordingly can drive companies to focus on short-term results and to neglect the interests of long-term shareholders and important corporate stakeholders like employees, customers, bondholders, and the nation as a whole. The Clarke Program on Corporations & Society seeks to understand the role of short-term shareholders in modern corporate governance and identify ways to ensure that corporations do not neglect long-term shareholder and stakeholder interests.
Legal Personality and the Nature of Corporations
Certain beliefs about corporations and corporate law are widely held and relied upon by economists, business experts, and the financial press. For example, it is commonly believed that shareholders own corporations and that corporate law requires managers to “maximize shareholder value.” Unfortunately, many of these widely-held beliefs are mistaken and have led to harmful errors in the way corporate law is understood and applied. The Clarke Program on Corporations & Society promotes a more accurate and realistic understanding of corporations and corporate law.
Corporations and Innovation
Business corporations are responsible for some of the most important innovations in human history. Corporations built the railroads and the electrical grid, developed the internet and mass production, and are currently working on self-driving cars and commercial space exploration. The Clarke Program on Corporations & Society investigates the part corporations play in innovation and supports research and scholarship on how to promote and protect business corporations’ vital role in innovation and economic development.
