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The Nature of the Business Corporation: Its Legal Structure and Economic Functions

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  • Katsuhito Iwai

Abstract

Between a classical firm and a business corporation lies a fundamental difference in legal structure. While the first consists of a single ownership relation between owners and assets, the second consists of two overlapping ownership relations—between shareholders and the corporation, and between the corporation and corporate assets. The latter legal relation is indirect and exists only through the intermediary of the corporation that performs the dual role of a thing and a person. This paper shows how such two–tier ownership structure of the business corporation fundamentally affects the form of its organization, the ways and means of its governance and the efficiency of its performances. JEL Classification Numbers: D23, G30, K00, K22, L20.

Suggested Citation

  • Katsuhito Iwai, 2002. "The Nature of the Business Corporation: Its Legal Structure and Economic Functions," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 53(3), pages 243-273, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jecrev:v:53:y:2002:i:3:p:243-273
    DOI: 10.1111/1468-5876.00227
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Mikami, Kazuhiko, 2018. "Are cooperative firms a less competitive form of business? Production efficiency and financial viability of cooperative firms with tradable membership shares," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 487-502.
    2. HIROTA Shinichi & KUBO Katsuyuki & MIYAJIMA Hideaki, 2007. "Does Corporate Culture Matter? An Empirical Study on Japanese Firms," Discussion papers 07030, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    3. Leslie Hannah, 2007. "The Divorce of Ownership from Control from 1900: Re-calibrating Imagined Global Historical Trends," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-460, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    4. MORITA, Hodaka & TANG, Cheng-Tao, 2017. "Asset Specificity, Human Capital Acquisition, and Labor Market Competition," Discussion paper series HIAS-E-42, Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study, Hitotsubashi University.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • K00 - Law and Economics - - General - - - General (including Data Sources and Description)
    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law
    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General

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