Annals of Corporate Governance > Vol 6 > Issue 4

Enterprise Foundations: Law, Taxation, Governance, and Performance

By Steen Thomsen, Center for Corporate Governance, Copenhagen Business School and ECGI, Denmark, st.ccg@cbs.dk | Nikolaos Kavadis, Center for Corporate Governance, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, nk.ccg@cbs.dk

 
Suggested Citation
Steen Thomsen and Nikolaos Kavadis (2022), "Enterprise Foundations: Law, Taxation, Governance, and Performance", Annals of Corporate Governance: Vol. 6: No. 4, pp 227-333. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/109.00000031

Publication Date: 09 Mar 2022
© 2022 S. Thomsen and N. Kavadis
 
Subjects
Corporate governance,  Firm ownership,  Corporate finance,  Strategic management
 
Keywords
Enterprise foundationseconomic performancelawsustainabilitycorporate governance
 

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In this article:
1. Introduction
2. What is an Enterprise Foundation?
3. Theory
4. Foundation Law
5. Taxation
6. Foundation Ownership and Firm Performance
7. Foundation Governance
8. Conclusion, Policy Implications, and Research Agenda
Acknowledgments
References

Abstract

Enterprise foundations are foundations, which own companies. While this structure is little known outside Northern Europe, a number of leading global companies such as Robert Bosch, Rolex, Carlsberg, Hershey, Ikea, the Wallenberg sphere or the Tata Group are ultimately owned by foundations. Aside from their economic significance, enterprise foundations have interesting governance characteristics including long-term ownership, the absence of a personal profit motive and the combination of business and philanthropy. Recently, they have attracted attention as a safeguard for a company purpose. In this monograph, we review the limited, but growing literature on the topic focusing on law, taxation, governance, and performance. We conclude by considering policy implications and avenues for research.

DOI:10.1561/109.00000031
ISBN: 978-1-68083-942-5
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ISBN: 978-1-68083-943-2
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Table of contents:
1. Introduction
2. What is an Enterprise Foundation?
3. Theory
4. Foundation Law
5. Taxation
6. Foundation Ownership and Firm Performance
7. Foundation Governance
8. Conclusion, Policy Implications, and Research Agenda
Acknowledgments
References

Enterprise Foundations: Law, Taxation, Governance, and Performance

Enterprise Foundations: Law, Taxation, Governance, and Performance reviews the emerging literature on enterprise foundations. After an introduction, the authors begin by defining an enterprise foundation and its essential characteristics (Section 2). The monograph then discusses relevant theoretical perspectives on foundation ownership including agency theory, contract failure, and game theory (Section 3). Sections 4 and 5 examine enterprise foundation law and tax law respectively. Section 6 reviews the financial and social performance of foundation-owned companies. Section 7 addresses enterprise foundation governance. Section 8 concludes with a summary of findings and some ideas for future research.

 
ACG-031