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Encyclopedia of Corporate Social Responsibility pp 2136–2141Cite as

Shareholder Theory

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Synonyms

Shareholder primacy theory; Shareholder value theory

Definition

Shareholder theory equates to an influential view on the role of business in society which pushes the idea that the only responsibility of managers is to serve in the best possible way the interests of shareholders, using the resources of the corporation to increase the wealth of the latter by seeking profits. According to this theory, such behavior, done within the constraints of law and without deception or fraud, would be beneficial for society as a whole. Within this theory corporate social responsibility is defined in purely economic profit making terms.

Introduction

The many different ways according to which corporate social responsibility is conceptualized are related to differing views regarding the role of business in society. Within the literature there exist several points of view on the role of business in society which lead to different views on corporate social responsibility. Among the most...

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References and Readings

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Economics, University of Porto: OBEGEF (Observatory in Economics and Management of Fraud), Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, Porto, 4200-464, Portugal

    Branco Manuel Castelo (Faculty of Economics)

Authors
  1. Branco Manuel Castelo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Branco Manuel Castelo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. London Metropolitan Business School, London Metropolitan University, Moorgate, London, UK

    Samuel O. Idowu

  2. Loyala University New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Nicholas Capaldi

  3. International Labor Organization, International Training Center, Viale Maestri del Lavoro, Turin, Italy

    Liangrong Zu

  4. Indian Institute of Plantation Management, Bangalore, India

    Ananda Das Gupta

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© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Castelo, B.M. (2013). Shareholder Theory. In: Idowu, S.O., Capaldi, N., Zu, L., Gupta, A.D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Corporate Social Responsibility. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28036-8_31

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