This module is not currently running in 2026 to 2027.
Are corporations best seen as purely private enterprises to be run exclusively in the interests of their shareholders? Or are corporations best viewed as social or quasi-social institutions to be run in the wider social interest? You will learn about the controversies surrounding the governance of the large corporations which dominate modern economic life. You will explore the historical development of the debates about corporate governance and the history and development of corporate theory, and will do so by asking: what is the problem, or what are the problems, that corporate governance seeks to address? One problem – the so-called ‘agency problem’ – has come to dominate Anglo-American corporate governance. Responses to the agency problem tend to orientate corporate governance towards shareholder primacy. You will critically evaluate this response by asking: how compelling are the ideas which seek to justify shareholder primacy? Who are the key actors who benefit from shareholder primacy? By what mechanisms do shareholders assert their primacy? You will critically examine various visions of the company and corporate governance regimes, including shareholder primacy, in light of the controversies and crises of today.
Interactive Lectures 6 hours
Seminars / Workshops 18 hours
Independent Study 116 hours
Assessment Preparation 60 hours
Written- Extended Writing- Short Essay (1,250 words). Worth 30% of the total marks for the module.
Written- Extended Writing- Extended Essay (2,750 words). Worth 70% of the total marks for the module.
Reassessment methods: 100% coursework (written reassessment 2,750 words)
For current reading list see the detailed module information on moodle.
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
On successfully completing the module, students will be able to:
1) Systematically evaluate the historical origins of contemporary corporate governance regimes.
2) Critically examine different views of the nature and purpose of the public corporation.
3) Comprehensively explain leading contemporary theories of corporate governance, and of the ideologies and views of social and economic life that underpin them.
4) Critically appraise alternatives to the shareholder orientated view of corporate governance.
5) Critically evaluate the relationship between issues of corporate governance and wider international debates of law and policy regarding multinational corporations in such areas as the environment and human rights.
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