Access to finance is crucial if we are to achieve the fundamental transition of our time: securing a safe and just society operating within the planetary boundaries. In the era of global market capitalism and deregulation, Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) offer one of the few public economic...

The company is one of the most ingenious inventions of our time. With limited liability for its investors, enabling capital to be (in theory) put to its most efficient use, the company has become the backbone of our economies. But must this all-important component of our market economies be...

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) encompasses an enormous complexity of debate and private and public initiatives. This article deals with one section of the debate, with the definition of CSR commonly accepted by business and legislators as the starting point. CSR in a sustainable...

Law and economics, or legal-economics, is the field of science that introduces economic theory into legal theory and enriches them both. The rise of law and economics within company law is significant in at least three ways. Firstly, law and economics may contribute to the structuring of...

A recent judgment from the Norwegian Supreme Court concerning the demerger of a private limited liability company provides some insight into the Supreme Court's understanding of what kind of transactions between a company and its shareholders fall within the scope of the legal term 'demerger' as...

This chapter gives an overview of the regulation of corporate governance in Norway, indicating also, to a certain extent, the practice related to and the effect of the regulation. The section following this introduction includes an overview of relevant acts and other sources of law. The main...

This chapter challenges the shareholder focus of the mainstream use of agency theory, and explores the possibility of redefining agency theory. The aim is to investigate the potential of internalizing environmental externalities of products, although much will be relevant also to social and...

In spite of all the business initiatives using a sustainability language status quo remains very much unchanged: ‘business as usual’ continues, and is a very certain path towards a very uncertain future. The dire status as regards the convergence of environmental crises facing global society...