Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T13:18:55.711Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Shareholder Value and UK Companies: A Positivist Inquiry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2012

Andrew Keay  and
Rodoula Adamopoulou
Andrew Keay
Affiliation:
Professor of Corporate and Commercial Law, Centre for Business Law and Practice, School of Law, University of Leeds.
Rodoula Adamopoulou
Affiliation:
Formerly, Researcher, Centre for Business Law and Practice, School of Law, University of Leeds.
Get access

Abstract

It has generally been maintained that UK companies embrace a shareholder value approach. But some commentators have challenged that view. This article documents an attempt to ascertain the actual position in UK companies by an analysis of the position taken concerning corporate objective by 50 of the largest companies in the UK. The research consists of an examination of the public documents of these companies, namely those that could be accessed from the companies' websites, and the primary document considered was the company's most recent Annual Report. The study found that companies could be divided into three groups with one group consisting of 36% of the companies considered, stating that they have shareholder value as their ultimate goal. But, critically, it also found that most of these companies indicated that non-shareholding stakeholders were important to them.

Keywords

shareholder valuestakeholdersUnited Kingdomcorporate objective
Type
Articles
Information
European Business Organization Law Review (EBOR) , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , March 2012 , pp. 1 - 29
Copyright
Copyright © T.M.C. Asser Press and the Authors 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)