Alice Belcher

The Not-Mother Puzzle

Feminist debate has moved away from an emphasis on how women differ from men and towards acknowledgement of differences among women. This article explores a division of growing importance for the new millennium: the division between women who choose to remain childless and those who choose to become mothers. The article demonstrates that more women are choosing to remain childless in the UK and the USA. It claims that the increase in childlessness is a demographic trend that is affecting the whole of the western, developed world. The main point of the article is to suggest that the way sex discrimination law is currently structured means that the demographic change identified will work to the disadvantage of both mothers and not-mothers.

Trust in the Boardroom

Do theories of trust and scepticism have relevance for the law concerning the collective and individual responsibilities of company directors? This article explores the links between theoretical aspects of trust and the ways in which company law constructs the individual and collective responsibilities of company directors. It brings together definitions of and approaches to trust that appear in other disciplines. It frames the relationship between directors and the company and gives a trust-based analysis of directors’ duties. Finally, it explores the trust or distrust that the law expects between directors. This analysis is important at a time when ‘trust’ is increasingly being used in discussions of corporate governance best practice.

A Feminist Perspective on Contract Theories from Law and Economics

This article offers a feminist perspective on contract theories in law,economics and law-and-economics. It identifies masculine traits presentcontract theories in all three disciplines. It then describes andassesses some developments that appear to be ‘feminising’: Therecognition of the importance of social norms in contract theory andtheories of contract as relationship. The articles main claim is that amasculine model of decision-making persists even within the less overtlymasculine models of contract. The problem of sexually transmitted debtresulting from a surety contract is analysed in detail as a specificexample supporting the articles general argument. The article concludesthat the way forward is to be found in a recognition of other ways ofmaking decisions.

Metaphysical spookiness?: The collective responsibility of company directors

According to both corporate governance codes and company law, the directors of a company have a collective responsibility. This article explores collective, or collegiate, decision-making and, perhaps more importantly, collective responsibility. The collective responsibility of directors is currently operationalised only by converting it into an individual responsibility and liability. The purpose of this article is to reveal how a more openly collective approach to board responsibilities and board liabilities could be useful and practical, despite the fact that its theoretical basis may require some metaphysical spookiness.

Gendered company: Views of corporate governance at the institute of directors

Conclusion and PostscriptThis paper opened with a quotation from the credo of the Institute of Directors: “The success of a companies depends on the leadership and performance of directors.” The performance of the group of male directors at the “Enterprise and Governance” conference has revealed patriarchal ideology exercising hegemonic control of the corporate culture and strongly resisting any challenges to its dominant position.

Techniques for evaluating regulatory change

This paper demonstrates the applicability of two empirical techniques—the Heckman two-stage switching regression and the event study methodology—for evaluating regulatory or legislative change relating to companies and in particular to the regulation of company reporting. These techniques measure the impact of regulatory changes once they have happened. They could be used in practice if regulatory changes were subject to a review procedure. The availability of these relatively sophisticated techniques should encourage the quantitative analysis of regulatory changes. Comparisons of effects across member states of the European Union would be interesting but would obviously need care.

Corporate Risk Management and Legal Strategy

The board of directors has ultimate responsibility for strategies implemented by corporations. This chapter provides a link between the board’s risk management activities and corporate legal strategies. In this context, there are two relevant regulatory elements: the corporate governance rules that require companies to establish a risk management policy and the associated disclosure, and the specific legal requirements that the particular company risks breaching due to the nature of its operations. The theoretical part of the chapter examines the concept of strategy and explores the connections and tensions between corporate risk management policy, the expectations generated by risk management disclosures, the company’s true exposure to legal risks, and the implications for enterprise.