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Legal forms of Not-for-Profit Organisations in Europe

Author

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  • van der Ploe, Tymen

    (Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit)

Abstract

In the world of economists a lawyer feels a bit strange. How does an economist look to a lawyer? Is he a formalist, some one who focuses on forms? And is an economist in his own eyes some one who is interested in facts in stead of forms, words, rules etc., in which the lawyer is interested? If this how you as an economist look to it, I would like to make some corrections on this view. Take for instance the position of shareholders in a company. Economists are inclined to say that shareholders are the owners of the company. Legally this is incorrect. The contribution of the shareholder in the company has become the property of the company (legal person). The shareholder certainly receives some rights in relation to the company, but he is not the legal owner of it. The company as a legal person is a subject, not an object of law. To contradict the economists' formulation that shareholders are the owners of the company, is not only a question of words, it has also to do with facts. The shareholder (also the sole shareholder) has not the right to sell the property of the company; he may only sell his shares. The property of the company can be taken by the creditors of the company, the shareholders have this right only at the end of the liquidation after dissolution. I presume that this makes clear that lawyers have a different perspective on socio-economic facts. I agree that lawyers should not neglect the economic data, but economists like other people can not neglect the legal structure, as this also creates the basis for the economic reality

Suggested Citation

  • van der Ploe, Tymen, 2009. "Legal forms of Not-for-Profit Organisations in Europe," AICCON Working Papers 65-2009, Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:aiccon:2009_065
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