Le pouvoir du capital dans la société anonyme : essai sur la société anonyme en tant que technique d’organisation du pouvoir juridique et structure de concentration du pouvoir économique

A conceptual analysis of the power of capital in a corporation involves distinguishing between legal and economic power. The legal power of capital classically refers to an organic prerogative but also has to be analyzed according to the theory of power in private law. Hence, shareholders have to exercise an altruistic prerogative for the benefit of interests other than their own. Indeed, corporate law is organized around several interests that may conflict with individual shareholder interests, for example the common interest of shareholders or even the purely selfish interest of the corporation. However, this classical theory of legal power is challenged by the doctrine of corporate governance whose current expression of economic power in corporate law can be defined as the capacity of economic entities to reduce risks. By modifying managerial conduct, this doctrine aims to reduce the risks related to the investment in listed companies. Corporate governance is a phenomenon of economic power, not legal power in the corporation. A realistic assessment of this power leads to the conclusion that it is ineffective in reducing investment risks