The Harvard-Oxford Debate on Stakeholder Capitalism

This Thursday, June 25, 2020, the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford will hold a debate titled Stakeholder versus Shareholder Capitalism: the Great Debate. The debate will be held between Harvard Law School Professor Lucian Bebchuk and Oxford University Professor Colin Mayer.

In the tradition of Oxford debates, the audience watching it will be asked to vote on the question being debated: Whether corporate leaders should serve the interests of all stakeholders or just shareholders. The event will be publicly broadcast live at 9am EST, and information about how to watch the debate is available on the Oxford University website here.

Lucian Bebchuk is the James Barr Ames Professor of Law, Economics, and Finance and Director of the Program on Corporate Governance at Harvard Law School. His recent article with Roberto Tallarita, The Illusory Promise of Stakeholder Governance, challenges the “stakeholderism” view under which corporate leaders should give independent weight to the interests of all stakeholders. The article conducts a conceptual, economic, and empirical analysis of stakeholderism and its expected consequences. It conclude that stakeholderism should be rejected, including by those who care deeply about the welfare of stakeholders.

Colin Mayer, CBE, is the Peter Moores Professor of Management Studies at, and former Dean of, the Saïd Business School of the University of Oxford. His recent book, Prosperity: Better Business Makes the Greater Good, puts forward a case for stakeholder capitalism. And his recent ECGI Discussion Paper, Shareholderism versus Stakeholderism – A Misconceived Contradiction: A Comment on “The Illusory Promise of Stakeholder Governance” by Lucian Bebchuk and Roberto Tallarita, takes issue with and responds to the Bebchuk-Tallarita challenge to stakeholder capitalism.