Transatlantic perspectives on corporate purpose, CSR and ESG
For some time now, listed firms have been giving greater attention to the issues of environmental protection, climate change, corporate responsibility, and economic sustainability, this occurring in respect of both decision-making processes as well as the setting of corporate goals. The discussions surrounding these developments have proceeded very differently in Europe and in the USA. A recently published volume co-edited by Klaus J. Hopt, Director Emeritus at the Institute, presents the views of legal scholars from both sides of the Atlantic as regards economic, comparative, historical, and conceptual aspects of the topic.
In recent years, a wave of new regulations has forced large companies to adopt objectives not directly related to those associated with profitability, thereby addressing matters such as environmental protection or the social interests of certain stakeholders. Against this backdrop, renewed focus has been placed on the long-running debate regarding the competing merits of the shareholder- and stakeholder-oriented models of corporate governance for listed companies.
The present volume gathers the expertise of 16 scholars from the EU and the USA. The contributions examine similarities between these jurisdictions as well as legal, cultural, and economic differences. The work pointedly depicts the contrast between the stakeholder orientation of European regulatory provisions and the US emphasis on shareholder value. With this comprehensive analysis of recent developments, the work closes a gap in comparative literature on fundamental corporate law issues and provides a theoretical foundation – in a global context – for current discussions on corporate purpose, CSR, and ESG.
Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Klaus J. Hopt, MCJ (NYU) was Director at the Institute from 1995 to 2008. Before that time, he held professorial posts in Tübingen, Florence, Bern, and Munich. Guest professorships led him to Paris, Vienna, Rome, Tokyo, Kyoto, Chicago, New York University, Harvard, and Columbia University in New York. He is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences and the International Academy of Comparative Law and has authored numerous publications on business and entrepreneurial law as well as on the topic of corporate governance. He has served as a consultant for the European Commission, international banks, the German legislature, and German Federal Constitutional Court.
Jens-Hinrich Binder, Klaus Hopt, Thilo Kuntz (eds.), Corporate Purpose, CSR, and ESG, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2024, 416 pp.
Image: © Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law
