Corporate Duties to the Public

Barnali Choudhury is an Associate Professor at University College London. She is the author of Public Services and International Trade Liberalization: Human Rights and Gender Implications (Cambridge, 2012) and a co-editor of Understanding the Company: Corporate Governance and Theory (Cambridge, 2017). She has travelled around the world presenting her work, and her research has been cited by the United Nations, the House of Commons and the House of Lords EU Select Committee, among others. Barnali has visited at New York University Law School and the University of Cambridge and was recently awarded a Leverhulme Research Fellowship. Martin Petrin is an Associate Professor at University College London. He holds an S.J.D. specializing in corporate law from the University of California, Los Angeles, a Ph.D. from the University of St Gallen, and an LL.M. from Columbia University. He is the author of numerous books including, most recently, Corporate Governance: Law, Regulation and Theory (2017). Martin has practiced law with a leading international business law firm and is admitted to the Bar in New York and Switzerland. He has visited at the University of Cambridge and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and Private Law.

Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 1.1 Common arguments for a closer relationship between corporations and the public; 1.2 The structure of the book; 2. Background; 2.1 A brief history of the corporation and its relationship with the public; 2.2 Justifying corporate duties; 2.3 Conclusion; 3. Corporate purpose; 3.1 Theoretical approaches; 3.2 The corporate purpose in UK and US law; 3.3 The diverging views assessed; 3.4 A recalibrated purpose; 3.5 Conclusion; 4. Corporate governance; 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 Corporate governance policies; 4.3 Conclusion; 5. Parent company liability; 5.1 Introduction; 5.2 The group company and limited liability; 5.3 Circumventing limited liability; 5.4 The (economic) case for group company liability; 5.5 Reforming liability for group companies; 5.6 Two-tiered liability based on risk internalization; 5.7 Conclusion; 6. Tort law; 6.1 Justification for corporate liability; 6.2 Corporate theories; 6.3 Attribution mechanisms; 6.4 Alternative approaches - depersonalized corporate liability; 6.5 Conclusion; 7. Criminal law; 7.1 Recognition of corporate criminal liability; 7.2 Attribution mechanisms; 7.3 Justifying and designing corporate criminal liability; 7.4 Conclusion; 8. Human rights law; 8.1 The legal regime for corporations and human rights; 8.2 Defining corporate duties vis-à-vis human rights; 8.3 Conclusion; 9. Environmental law; 9.1 The case for corporate environmental responsibility; 9.2 Existing mechanisms defining corporate environmental responsibility; 9.3 Conclusion; 10. Corruption; 10.1 Defining corruption; 10.2 Why combat corruption?; 10.3 Anti-corruption rules; 10.4 Corporate duties for combating corruption; 10.5 Conclusion; 11. Tax law; 11.1 Why are corporations taxed?; 11.2 The problem of aggressive tax planning; 11.3 Contextualizing the role of governments; 11.4 The corporate duty (not) to engage in tax avoidance); 11.5 Conclusion; 12. Conclusion; 12.1 Key findings; 12.2 Common themes and lessons; 12.3 Final thoughts; Index.