Workplace Democracy, the Bicameral Firm, and Stakeholder Theory

Article dans une revue: Ferreras's bicameral governance proposal for the corporation contributes to a recent wave of interest in democratizing the workplace. In this article, I connect this to a related ongoing movement in favor of the stakeholder approach to corporate purpose. I argue that this connection sheds light on, and may provide remedies for, some issues with the bicameral proposal: first, the risk of gridlock between the two parties in the dual governance structure; second, the indeterminacy of good management when shareholder primacy is abandoned. But I also note that shareholder primacy emerged spontaneously from structural features of the economy, so that special protection for the “good” firms is warranted, and that other key limitations of a market economy cannot be alleviated fully by democratizing the firm.

Auteur(s)

Marc Fleurbaey

Revue
  • Politics and Society
Date de publication
  • 2023
Pages
  • 243-257
Version
  • 1
Volume
  • 51