The Clarendon Law Lectures (1) 2024: The Non-Capitalist Enterprise
This is a series of lectures given by Katharina Pistor for the Oxford University Faculty of Law in 2024.
Enterprises have been around for much of human history. They are formed when people join forces in pursuit of a common goal, for pooling skills and resources, diversify risk, or simply finding a way to sustain themselves and their families. Making money has been part of their mission, not, however, their only or even primary goal. Viewed in this light, the modern business corporation with its prioritization of maximizing value exclusively for their shareholders is the outlier, not the NCE. Indeed, while corporations account for the largest firms by size and market capitalization, they are outnumbered by NCEs almost anywhere, including in capitalist economies.