How Corporations Govern (w/ Alexei Marcoux)
How Corporations Govern (w/ Alexei Marcoux)
Shareholders, stakeholders, and the social responsibilities of business.
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Governments rule our lives, but quite a lot of us believe corporations do as well. And just like we can ask questions about how the states are governed, we can ask similar questions about corporations. How ought they to run themselves? Whose interests should they take into account? What social responsibilities, if any, do they have?
To help us think through these questions about corporate governance and the role of corporate institutions, I’m joined by Alexei Marcoux. He’s a Professor of Business, Ethics and Society and Institute for Economic Inquiry Senior Scholar at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business.
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Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Music by Kevin MacLeod.
How Corporations Govern (w/ Alexei Marcoux)
An interesting and insightful episode. Professor Marcoux was clear and even handed in his description of the issues. As someone who has litigated corporate disputes for almost 25 years now, I fall strongly into the camp that removing the focus from shareholders and allow management to focus on stakeholder interests as ends unto themselves would be a harmful turn. I perceive that it would insulate management, make it less accountable and that the more subjective nature of stakeholder governance would lead to management being more incentivized to pursue their own private interests in a way that would discourage investment and innovation. A good discussion nonetheless.