Stock, Corporations, and Native Land Claims Settlement: One of a Series of Articles on the Native Land Claims

This article focuses on the role of village and regional corporations as established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1972. The booklet presents a simulated case study and open-ended class discussion questions relative to the use, purpose, and development of corporations, how corporations are managed and governed, and provisions of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act which led to changes in Alaska law with regard to Alaska Native shares in ANCSA corporations. The article is one of a series by different authors designed to stimulate reading and discussion at an advanced secondary or adult level.Alaska Department of EducationWhat are Corporations? / How Your Money and Land Will Be Used / Why Corporations? / Money to Spend and Money to Invest / Investment - Familiar Ways / Sole Proprietorship / Partnership / Corporations Protect People / Working for the Corporations / The Building Blocks of a Corporation / Differences Between Co-operatives and Corporations / Three Students Discuss a Corporation / Lessons Ronald, Jim, and Mark Learned / A Legal Contract / Directors / Compare the Old Days With the Future / Review of Corporations / Alaska Law and Native Claims Stock / Class Discussion

Corporations

A corporation is an artificial person created for an economic purpose, as described in various aspects of the Theory of the Firm. Recent historical and comparative research shows that corporations in most countries come in groups, each controlled by a single principal. This has implications for various "theories of the firm". The perception that firms ought to be run to maximize shareholder value, though commonplace in financial economics, is also problematic in application.

Corporate Initiatives: A Second Human Rights Revolution?

This Essay examines the role of multinational corporations in protecting human rights around the globe. Part I analyzes the conduct of corporations, describes examples of corporations\u27 involvement in human rights violations, and discusses the merits of greater responsibility of corporations. Part II suggests that the level of responsibility for a multinational corporation depends on the proximity of the corporation\u27s operations to human rights violations, in combination with the seriousness of the violations, and proposes five gradations of responsibility. This Essay concludes that the evolving nature of the global economy is producing a shift in responsibilities from government to the private sector, particularly multinational corporations, and that those responsibilities may include the power and duty to safeguard human rights

The Benefits of a Benefit Corporation Statute for Alaska Native Corporations

In the forty-five years since the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) created the Alaska Native regional corporation and village corporations, shareholders and outside observers have criticized the statute’s use of the traditional corporate form as inappropriate for Alaska Native communities. The emergence of the benefit corporation entity across the United States may soon mean that Native corporations have a promising alternative. If Alaska joins the majority of states that have adopted this new legal entity, Native corporations would have an opportunity to significantly reform their corporate governance within the existing framework of ANCSA. This Note will argue that Alaska should enact a benefit corporation statute because it would give Native corporations a legal entity that better fits their purpose. As benefit corporations, Native corporations would commit to pursuing public benefits, and their directors would be required to consider factors beyond shareholder value in making decisions

Corporate Outsourcing to Take Advantage of Cheap Labor in Developing Countries

Corporate outsourcing is a common practice for many large corporations, and a primary reason that corporations outsource is financial: production in other countries, especially those that are developing is significantly less expensive. There are various reasons corporations use outsourcing and this choice often results in subpar and unhealthy labor conditions for those individuals working in developing countries. Reviews of China, Bangladesh, and El Salvador reveal that operations in developing countries often result in harmful working atmospheres. A call for increased corporate responsibility and accountability for corporations who choose to take their manufacturing and production elsewhere, but specifically to developing nations, is given

Doing Well For Themselves, Not Oregonians: Corporate profits are high in Oregon, but not corporate income taxes

Corporations operating in Oregon are doing well for themselves, but less well for Oregonians. In the last few years, corporations have seen their profits in Oregon skyrocket, more than doubling since the beginning of the decade and hitting record levels last year. Unfortunately for Oregon's individual income taxpayers, corporate income taxes remain low by historical standards. Even though corporations made record profits last year, individual Oregonians are still picking up the slack for corporations who pay less in corporate income taxes as a share of the economy than they used to

Do Corporations & Unions Face the Same Rules for Political Spending?

Corporations and unions face very different rules and requirements for their political spending. Labor unions must publicly disclose their political spending and, in some instances, face restrictions about seeking consent from their stakeholders before using political funds. Corporations do not face the same requirements. After Citizens United, there are many avenues through which corporations can spend money in politics without disclosing their financial support for particular candidates or causes. And corporations are not required to seek approval from their stakeholders -- in fact, shareholders don't even have the right under federal law to know if and how a company is spending money in politics.This paper highlights the differences and broad implications of rules governing political spending by corporations and unions. It recommends Congress adopt a comprehensive disclosure regime like the DISCLOSE Act and the SEC meet its responsibility to update disclosure laws for corporate political spending in the wake of Citizens United