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Citizens United and the Corporate Form

Author

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  • Avi-Yonah Reuven S.

    (University of Michigan)

Abstract

In Citizens United vs. FEC, the Supreme Court struck down a Federal statute banning direct corporate expenditures on political campaigns. The decision has been widely criticized and praised as a matter of First Amendment law. But it is also interesting as another step in the evolution of our legal views of the corporation. This article argues that by viewing Citizens United through the prism of theories about the corporate form, it is possible to see that the majority and the dissent departed from previous Supreme Court jurisprudence on the First Amendment rights of corporations. It is also possible to then predict what arguments can be expected next.

Suggested Citation

  • Avi-Yonah Reuven S., 2011. "Citizens United and the Corporate Form," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 1(3), pages 1-56, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:aelcon:v:1:y:2011:i:3:n:1
    DOI: 10.2202/2152-2820.1048
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "Value Maximization, Stakeholder Theory, and the Corporate Objective Function," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 32-42, January.
    2. Reuven Avi-Yonah, "undated". "Corporations, Society and the State: A Defense of the Corporate Tax," University of Michigan John M. Olin Center for Law & Economics Working Paper Series umichlwps-1005, University of Michigan John M. Olin Center for Law & Economics.
    3. Freund, Ernst, 1897. "The Legal Nature of Corporations," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number freund1897.
    4. Roberta Romano, 1998. "Empowering Investors: A Market Approach to Securities Regulation," Yale School of Management Working Papers ysm74, Yale School of Management.
    5. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    6. Tyson, Laura D' Andrea, 1991. "They Are Not Us: Why American Ownership Still Matters," UCAIS Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, Working Paper Series qt63k3x1r7, UCAIS Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, UC Berkeley.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bratton William W., 2011. "Reuven Avi-Yonah's "Citizens United and the Corporate Form": Still Unuseful," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 1(3), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Simon Deakin, 2017. "Tony Lawson's Theory of the Corporation: Towards a Social Ontology of Law," Working Papers wp491, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    3. Simon Deakin, 2017. "Tony Lawson’s Theory of the Corporation: Towards a Social Ontology of Law," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 41(5), pages 1505-1523.
    4. Morley, Julia, 2022. "The pluralistic foundations of conceptual veiling," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114359, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Morley Julia, 2022. "The Pluralistic Foundations of Conceptual Veiling," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 12(2), pages 191-210, May.
    6. Biondi Yuri, 2011. "The Enterprise Entity and the Constitution of the American Economic Republic," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 1(3), pages 1-13, December.
    7. Mitchell Lawrence E., 2011. "Reuven Avi-Yonah's "Citizens United and the Corporate Form": A Comment," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 1(3), pages 1-9, December.

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