Concluding Reflections: The Future of the Corporation and Research on the Corporate Form

Abstract

Corporations vary widely around the world, yet our understandings of “the corporation” have been decisively influenced by the peculiar American version, with dispersed shares traded on a stock exchange and a matrix of institutions orienting them toward the North Star of share price. Moreover, even as this American model has shaped the terms of debate around the corporation, it no longer operates in its ancestral homeland, where ownership is increasingly concentrated, assets and employment are increasingly dispersed, and corporations are disappearing from the stock market. In this afterword, I underscore some themes from the articles in this volume and suggest some thoughts on research and theory in an increasingly post-corporate world.

Citation

Davis, G.F. (2022), "Concluding Reflections: The Future of the Corporation and Research on the Corporate Form", Meyer, R.E., Leixnering, S. and Veldman, J. (Ed.) The Corporation: Rethinking the Iconic Form of Business Organization (Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Vol. 78), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 233-243. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X20220000078012