Book contents
- Reviews
- The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
- The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Forewords
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part I Global Business and Fragmented Regulation
- Part II Corporate Law, Financial Markets and Sustainability
- Part III Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability: Case Studies
- 10 Progress Is Possible
- 11 Green but Not Enough
- 12 The Australian Paradox
- 13 Moving beyond Virtue Signalling
- 14 The EU as a Potential Norm Creator for Sustainable Corporate Groups
- 15 Market-Led Sustainability through Information Disclosure
- 16 Law, Culture and Sustainability
- 17 Stakeholder Value versus Corporate Sustainability
- 18 Worker Participation, Sustainability and the Puzzle of the Volkswagen Emissions Scandal
- 19 Corporate Sustainability and Shareholder Activism in the Netherlands
- 20 Old-Fashioned yet Innovative
- 21 The Unsuccessful Pursuit for Sustainability in Italian Business Law
- 22 Sustainability and the Transformation of the Socialist Corporation into the Private Corporation
- 23 Limited Demand, Limited Supply
- 24 The Pacific Alliance
- 25 Social Environmentalism and Corporate Capture
- 26 The Social and Ethics Committee
- 27 Reforming the Nigerian Oil and Gas Sector
- 28 Enlightenment or Resistance?
- 29 The Community Company as a Vehicle for Sustainability in Solomon Islands
- 30 What Does It Mean to Be Sustainable?
- 31 Shareholder Voting and Corporate Sustainability in China
- 32 Corporate Governance Reform, Social Norms and Sustainability in Japanese Companies
- 33 Achieving Sustainable Development Goals in India
- 34 Sustainability and Legislated Corporate Social Responsibility in Indonesia
- 35 Islamic Financial Institutions and Corporate Sustainability
- 36 Leaders or Laggards?
- Part IV Potential Drivers for Change
- Conclusion
- Index
16 - Law, Culture and Sustainability
Corporate Governance in the Nordic Countries
from Part III - Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability: Case Studies
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 November 2019
- Reviews
- The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
- The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Forewords
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part I Global Business and Fragmented Regulation
- Part II Corporate Law, Financial Markets and Sustainability
- Part III Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability: Case Studies
- 10 Progress Is Possible
- 11 Green but Not Enough
- 12 The Australian Paradox
- 13 Moving beyond Virtue Signalling
- 14 The EU as a Potential Norm Creator for Sustainable Corporate Groups
- 15 Market-Led Sustainability through Information Disclosure
- 16 Law, Culture and Sustainability
- 17 Stakeholder Value versus Corporate Sustainability
- 18 Worker Participation, Sustainability and the Puzzle of the Volkswagen Emissions Scandal
- 19 Corporate Sustainability and Shareholder Activism in the Netherlands
- 20 Old-Fashioned yet Innovative
- 21 The Unsuccessful Pursuit for Sustainability in Italian Business Law
- 22 Sustainability and the Transformation of the Socialist Corporation into the Private Corporation
- 23 Limited Demand, Limited Supply
- 24 The Pacific Alliance
- 25 Social Environmentalism and Corporate Capture
- 26 The Social and Ethics Committee
- 27 Reforming the Nigerian Oil and Gas Sector
- 28 Enlightenment or Resistance?
- 29 The Community Company as a Vehicle for Sustainability in Solomon Islands
- 30 What Does It Mean to Be Sustainable?
- 31 Shareholder Voting and Corporate Sustainability in China
- 32 Corporate Governance Reform, Social Norms and Sustainability in Japanese Companies
- 33 Achieving Sustainable Development Goals in India
- 34 Sustainability and Legislated Corporate Social Responsibility in Indonesia
- 35 Islamic Financial Institutions and Corporate Sustainability
- 36 Leaders or Laggards?
- Part IV Potential Drivers for Change
- Conclusion
- Index
Summary
Nordic countries have their own variations of the same corporate law theme, based on equality between shareholders and minority protection. However, U.S.-style shareholder primacy has influenced corporate practices, legal literature and governance codes. The strength of the ‘Nordic model’ is not in law or in codes, but in a typically Nordic form of ‘active ownership’ by non-institutional direct shareholders such as families, foundations and public pension funds. It is not, however, enough and requires broader participation for sustainability. The answer might be in corporate board activity. The Nordic ‘soft’ shareholder activism, based on a dialogue between the investors and the board, gives room for the boards to convince the investors of the advantages of long-term sustainability. Recurring Nordic bank crises show that bankers’ motives for profit maximisation should be particularly constrained.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019
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