Systemic Risk Centre Event (London)

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Date: 16-17th June 2022   Time: 1.5 day event
Venue: London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Organisers: Eva Micheler (SRC/LSE), David Gindis (University of Hertfordshire)
Speakers: Vicky Barnes (Max Planck), Sandrine Blanc (ESSEC), Rutger Claassen (Utrecht), Simon Deakin (Cambridge), Isabelle Ferreras (Louvain), Joshua Getzler (Oxford), David Gindis (Hertfordshire), Jonny Hardman (Edinburgh), Stephan Leixenring (WU Vienna), Samuel Mansell (St Andrews), Ewan McGaughey (KCL), Tim Meijers (Leiden), Eva Micheler (SRC/LSE), Christopher Napier (Royal Holloway), Lucy Newton (Reading), Eric Orts (Wharton), Sarah Paterson (LSE), Alexander Pepper (LSE), Tully Rector (Utrecht), Alexander Styhre (Gothenburg), Carien van Mourik (OU)

For some time the nexus of contract model of the firm and agency theory have operated as the dominant theoretical approach in law, economics and other social sciences. Following the 2008 financial crisis this approach has received substantial and sustained criticism. Despite this critique no alternative positive or normative theory of the firm has yet taken hold.

The aim of this conference is to fill this gap and to articulate an institutional theory of the firm. This theory (a) emphasizes the real economic enterprise underlying the legal form supplied by law, (b) highlights that and how the enterprise is constituted by law, (c) examines the relative roles of governance mechanisms, organizational routines, codes of practice, social norms and shared beliefs, in a manner that aims to (d) shine a light on current and future reform proposals.

The speakers and topics are listed below:

  • Vicky Barnes (Max Planck, Germany – legal history) & Lucy Newton (Reading, UK – business history), « Communicating purpose: The English joint stock bank in law and society »
  • Sandrine Blanc (ESSEC, France – business ethics) & Tim Meijers (Leiden, Netherlands – philosophy), « Justice Inc. »
  • Rutger Claassen (Utrecht, Netherlands – political theory) & Tully Rector (Utrecht, Netherlands – political theory), « The multi-capital corporation: in or beyond capitalism? »
  • Simon Deakin (Cambridge, UK – law), « The Corporation: A Neo-Realist Account »
  • Isabelle Ferreras (Louvain, Belgium – sociology), « A theory of the firm anchored in the labour investment it necessitates: Descriptive stakes and normative challenges »
  • Joshua Getzler (Oxford, UK – legal history), « Common knowledge and group minds »
  • David Gindis (Hertfordshire, UK – economics), « A legally-grounded real entity view of the firm »
  • Jonny Hardman (Edinburgh, UK – law), « Real Entities in Fictitious Persons: Separate Legal Personality and the Firm »
  • Stephan Leixenring (WU Vienna, Austria – management), “Corporate Purpose: An Institutional Perspective”
  • Samuel Mansell (St Andrews, UK – business ethics), « Who speaks for the corporation? A Hobbesian theory of managerial authority »
  • Ewan McGaughey (KCL, UK – law), “The theory of enterprise law: The eclipse of corporate law »
  • Eva Micheler (LSE, UK – law), “Institutional theory in company law »
  • Carien van Mourik (OU, UK – accounting), “Property rights, markets, and externalities in corporate external reporting theory and practice »
  • Christopher Napier (Royal Holloway, UK – accounting), « How corporate reporting underpins a financial conception of the firm »
  • Eric Orts (Wharton, US – law), “Toward a theory of plural business purposes”
  • Sarah Paterson (LSE, UK – law), “CLO incentives and financial distress: The case for regulating covenant-life loans »
  • Alexander Pepper (LSE, UK – management), « An institutional approach to executive compensation: FTSE100 CEO pay 1980-2020 »
  • Alexander Styhre (Gothenburg, Sweden – management), « Market concentration and weaker antitrust enforcement: A legal-institutional theory view of economic welfare consequences »

Registration
Details to be made available shortly.

The conference will conclude with a lecture by Katharina Pistor (Columbia, US – law) entitled « Financializing the non-financial firm« . Details of the lecture: https://www.systemicrisk.ac.uk/events/financializing-non-financial-firm

Image credits: LSE logo, related webpage