The Role of the Corporation in Society: An Alternative View and Opportunities for Future Research

Abstract:

A long-standing ideology in business education has been that a corporation is run for the sole interest of its shareholders. I present an alternative view where increasing concentration of economic activity and power in the world’s largest corporations, the Global 1000, has opened the way for managers to consider the interests of a broader set of stakeholders rather than only shareholders. Having documented that this alternative view better fits actual corporate conduct, I discuss opportunities for future research. Specifically, I call for research on the materiality of environmental and social issues for the future financial performance of corporations, the design of incentive and control systems to guide strategy execution, corporate reporting, and the role of investors in this new paradigm.

Source: Social Science Research Network

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Data Portal: Institute for Environment and Sustainability

Description:

The Institute for Environment and Sustainability hosts a large number of data portals and unique scientific databases. Find below a short description of the most relevant public data portals and databases with their respective links:

Here are just a few:
The INSPIRE Geoportal: The INSPIRE Geoportal is Europe's Internet access point to the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE). The user can discover and view the maps of his/her choice letting the Geoportal contact the necessary servers and combine the data.

The European Soil Portal
The European Soil Portal is an integral part of the European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC) and brings together relevant data and information regarding soils at the European level.

Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) The Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) provides data on global past and present anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants by country on a spatial grid.

Global Land Cover 2000 Database
The Global Land Cover 2000 Database shows for the first time ever the complete land cover of the entire planet with a 1-km resolution. The project was carried out in collaboration with over 30 research teams from

Read the full list of datasets available at the Institute for Environment and Sustainability.