This project commenced in April 2007, involving researchers and members of the business community with different areas of expertise as it sought to examine legal systems that could influence incentive negotiations among providers of resources essential to corporate activity. These legal systems come under the common heading of "enterprise law." This feature will publish summaries of the discussions in the Enterprise Law as a Structure for Incentives series of workshops, which will be held approximately once a month.
Project Overview
1. Project Perspective
Corporate activity involves adding value, with human capital providers (corporate managers and employees) using the capital offered by monetary capital providers (shareholders and creditors) and distributing the added value among the providers. These four parties are the providers of resources essential to corporate activity and the profits of corporate activity are distributed among them. Since corporate activity cannot succeed if any of these resource providers baulks at providing its resource, each of the parties needs to enter into incentive negotiations with the other resource providers to maximize its own interests.
Study Group Meeting Summary
Vol. 1: Explanation of Overview and Purpose of Research Project
Date: April 11, 2007
Place: Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, Meeting Room 1121
This project is titled "Enterprise Law as a Structure for Incentives" and has three objectives. The first objective is to establish a clear overall picture of enterprise law. Somewhat surprisingly, until now there have been relatively few attempts to bring together different areas of law, including corporation law, securities regulation, bankruptcy law, labor law, and taxation law, and examine them under a single enterprise law. Enterprise law has been defined as a legal system that influences incentive negotiations among providers of resources essential to corporate activity. It has been remarked, though, that the focus needs to go beyond legal enforcement to take into account the importance of private enforcement. Others have also noted anti-monopoly legislation and laws on intellectual property rights have some influence on incentive negotiations.
