Can Corporations Be Held ‘Responsible’?

The modern corporation is a creature of law and this chapter emphasises the consequences of taking a ‘real entity’ view of its functioning in that context. It does this in respect to examining the notion of ‘corporate responsibility’ in a period where shareholder primacy is considered the single authoritative rationale compelling corporate governance. But can corporate governance be considered more widely than this, and what would such a widening of the ambit of corporate governance mean for the notion of responsibility in respect to the modern corporation? The argument is that the kind of ‘personhood’ the company is in law does not lend itself to being held responsible in the same manner as ordinary citizens: corporate citizenship is very different to personal citizenship. However, the chapter pursues the political consequences of taking this non-ethical account of responsibility in various contexts. In particular, it examines how the governance of the multinational corporation might be reformulated to better enable it to be held responsible for any misconduct in the operation of its business activities as these increasingly spread across international boundaries.