Foundations: Legal History, Legal Theory, Law and Economics
The Institute is dedicated to performing foundational research and has consequently always addressed the fundamental methodological questions of (private) law. In doing so, it is essential that the approaches and insights of related disciplines such as legal history, legal theory, legal sociology and law and economics be integrated into the research.
Projects
Decolonial comparative law identifies how the matrix of modernity/coloniality structures the prevailing understanding of law and offers decolonial alternatives – with coloniality meaning not merely colonialism, but rather the totalizing and universalizing mode of thought that underlies modernity.
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Legislation in the field of company law arrived on the scene only at a relatively late stage. For centuries, it was articles of incorporation and contracts which ensured that the rules essential to the existence of a company were set out in a binding manner. From accounting and non-competition clauses to the structuring of management and supervisory bodies, these instruments served as models for the later creation of statutory rules.
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Family firms are attracting growing attention in company law research. This comes as little surprise given that family businesses account for 91 per cent of all companies in Germany, employing 57 per cent of the workforce and generating 55 per cent of private sector revenue. In many other countries, too, they are the backbone of the economy.
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Header image: © Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law
