Polanyi's Embeddedness and Shareholder Stewardship: A Contextual Analysis of Current Anglo-American Perspectives on Corporate Governance

NILQ 62(4), pp. 451–68

Symposium paper, Oxford, April 2010

Warwick School of Law Research Paper No. 2012/20

19 Pages Posted: 19 Nov 2012 Last revised: 22 Nov 2012

See all articles by Lorraine E. Talbot

Lorraine E. Talbot

University of York - York Law School; University of Birmingham - Birmingham Law School

Date Written: November 18, 2012

Abstract

Polanyi saw the economy as properly embedded in society and argued that the capitalist free market, in commodifying social relations of production, seeks to disembed the economy from society. The resulting lack of continuity between society and economy, he maintained, created conflict which necessarily required state intervention. The market economy, therefore, in contrast to neoclassical/neoliberal economics’ vision of an autonomous, self-regulating market, required more, not less, state intervention to sustain it than alternative, more embedded economies. This article explores this conflict in the context of a specific neoliberal claim: that institutional shareholders are capable of being good “stewards” of the companies in which they invest. Utilising Polanyi’s embeddedness, this article assesses the “stewardship” approach as it is manifested in the US and in the UK. This approach is posited on a vision of a disembedded, self-regulating market. Putting it into practice is thus a retrograde step which will only exacerbate the problems created by the market-based corporate governance strategies which have prevailed since the late 1970s onwards.

Keywords: shareholder stewardship, Polanyi, embeddedness, crisis, conflict

Suggested Citation

Talbot, Lorraine E., Polanyi's Embeddedness and Shareholder Stewardship: A Contextual Analysis of Current Anglo-American Perspectives on Corporate Governance (November 18, 2012). NILQ 62(4), pp. 451–68, Symposium paper, Oxford, April 2010, Warwick School of Law Research Paper No. 2012/20, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2177645

Lorraine E. Talbot (Contact Author)

University of York - York Law School

York YO10
United Kingdom

University of Birmingham - Birmingham Law School ( email )

Edgbaston
Birmingham, AL B15 2TT
United Kingdom

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