Blanche Segrestin, Kevin Levillain and Armand Hatchuel publish Incorporating Purpose: The New Legal Foundations for the Corporation and its Management with Cambridge University Press, in the series Elements in Corporate Governance edited by Thomas Clarke.
The book introduces an international audience to the new legal forms of purpose-driven companies and puts forward two ideas:
- In traditional corporate law, a corporate purpose is neither protected nor binding over time: it remains under shareholders’ control. To secure social or environmental ambitions over the long run, notably when shareholders change, a legal commitment by the company is essential.
- These new forms invite a rethinking of the legal foundations of the corporation: incorporating a purpose into its articles of association can provide the basis for responsible management that current law does not sufficiently address.