What is the purpose of the company and its role in society? From their origin in medieval times to their modern incarnation as powerful transnational bodies, companies remain an important part of business and society at large. Drawing from a variety of perspectives, this book adopts a normative...

Introduction / Barnali Choudhury and Martin Petrin -- Four transformations of the corporate form / Reuven S. Avi-Yonah -- Comparative corporate governance : old and new / Martin Gelter -- Corporation's intrinsic attributes / Christopher M. Bruner -- Understanding the modern company through the...