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Full-Text Articles in Law
Sustainable Business, Robert A. Katz, Antony Page
Sustainable Business, Robert A. Katz, Antony Page
Faculty Publications
In recent years lawyers have become increasingly active in the field of for-profit social enterprise and sustainable business. This is nowhere more evident than in the design of new organizational forms such as the low-profit limited liability company (L3C), the flexible purpose corporation, and the benefit corporation. In this emerging field, sustainability is perhaps the most prized quality as well as its most versatile construct. This Essay contributes to the debate over new legal forms by analyzing the multiple meanings of sustainability in this context. The analysis demonstrates the importance of distinguishing between the social enterprise as a dual mission …
Benefit Corporations: A Challenge In Corporate Governance, Mark J. Loewenstein
Benefit Corporations: A Challenge In Corporate Governance, Mark J. Loewenstein
Publications
Benefit corporations are a new form of business entity that is rapidly being adopted around the country. Though the legislation varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, most statutes are based on a model proposed and promoted by B Lab, itself a nonprofit corporation. The essence of these statutes is that, in making business judgments, the directors of a benefit corporation must consider the impact of their decisions on the environment and society. The model legislation, though, may create serious governance issues for the directors of benefit corporations that operate under these laws. This article analyzes the model legislation and identifies its …
The Next Stage Of Csr For Canada: Transformational Corporate Governance, Hybrid Legal Structures, And The Growth Of Social Enterprise, Carol Liao
All Faculty Publications
The period when corporate social responsibility (CSR) only referred to corporate philanthropic donations has passed. Present day CSR is intimately intertwined with sustainable development, and its growth in the last several decades has been evident in Canada. The recent appearance of “hybrid” corporate legal structures on the international stage marks a growing trend toward enabling the dual pursuit of economic and social mandates for businesses. It suggests that the next significant stage in the CSR movement will be in the reformation and creation of corporate legal models that not only enable, but require, CSR concepts to be embodied within corporate …