Control (management)

Law and economics

Microeconomics

Public relations

Accounting

Economics

Business

Corporate governance

Politics

Management

Corporation

Political science

Corporate social responsibility

Finance

Stakeholder

Accountability

Profit (economics)

Social contract

European Management Journal

This paper aims at contributing to corporate governance theory by developing a model of governance that takes into account a recent legal innovation: the introduction of purpose-driven legal business forms in the corporate law of several countries. Current debates in such theory oppose models that grant "primacy" (i.e., ultimate control rights) to different constituencies. The resulting uncertainty proves problematic in the face of new, urgent social and environmental stakes that are difficult to represent in traditional governance bodies. Newly adopted profit-with-purpose corporate forms' introduction of a "purpose" in corporate contracts renews these debates. We show that through the "purpose commitment" model it enables, the distribution of control rights in the governance system is decoupled from the objectives assigned to the corporation. This new approach renews the formal role of management, and corporations' accountability to society. We explore the theoretical, practical, and political consequences of this new model.

From primacy to purpose commitment: How emerging profit-with-purpose corporations open new corporate governance avenues