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    The Shareholder Value Myth: How Putting Shareholders First Harms Investors, Corporations, and the Public
    Unavailable
    The Shareholder Value Myth: How Putting Shareholders First Harms Investors, Corporations, and the Public
    Unavailable
    The Shareholder Value Myth: How Putting Shareholders First Harms Investors, Corporations, and the Public
    Ebook166 pages2 hours

    The Shareholder Value Myth: How Putting Shareholders First Harms Investors, Corporations, and the Public

    By Lynn A. Stout

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Executives, investors, and the business press routinely chant the mantra that corporations are required to “maximize shareholder value.” In this pathbreaking book, renowned corporate expert Lynn Stout debunks the myth that corporate law mandates shareholder primacy. Stout shows how shareholder value thinking endangers not only investors but the rest of us as well, leading managers to focus myopically on short-term earnings; discouraging investment and innovation; harming employees, customers, and communities; and causing companies to indulge in reckless, sociopathic, and irresponsible behaviors. And she looks at new models of corporate purpose that better serve the needs of investors, corporations, and society.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBerrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
    Release dateMay 7, 2012
    ISBN9781605098166
    Unavailable
    The Shareholder Value Myth: How Putting Shareholders First Harms Investors, Corporations, and the Public
    Author

    Lynn A. Stout

    Lynn Stout is the Distinguished Professor of Corporate and Business Law, Clarke Business Law Institute, at Cornell Law School. Her work on corporate theory was cited by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens in his dissent in Citizens United.

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    Reviews for The Shareholder Value Myth

    4.5/5

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    • 5/5
      For those who think about such things as fiduciary duty and the efficient markets hypothesis, this is a fascinating and highly recommended read.

      I met Lynn at Tellus Institute two years about when she was giving a talk about this subject. This book has been on my list since then.

      Her thesis is in the subtitle. A more nuanced summary of her book gets into the fact that, ultimately, shareholders are people, and people have many needs, of which money is just a small part.

      There are lots of great numbers in the book, such as those that point out some Jevon's Paradoxes of finance. Such as, when executive pay gets tied to share price to "increase the efficiency of the management" companies spend many times more on executives and become less efficient overall.

      It's gotten me thinking about is the importance of integrating ownership with management. If people don't feel responsibility and support in their roles, what they are stewarding won't do very well. This is what we do in corporations when we tell management that they're not owners. And stock options aren't the answer. Something more like a coop is what we're looking at.

      One last thing: shareholders don't own companies! I love this, as it gets into the metaphysics of economics. It makes me think of my simile of money as intelligence. If putting shareholders first is bad for people, why do we do it? Because it is good for money!

      Anyways, I'd highly recommend this book, and look forward to the conversations it starts.
    • 3/5
      Insightful thoughts on the premise of maximizing shareholder value. If some of these ideas were implemented in the real world, who knows how much of a benefit corporations can be to our society.