The global financial crisis, the pervasive resilience of shareholder value, and the unfulfilled promises of Anglo-American corporate law

The paper provides a review of the theoretical, normative and judicial base of the shareholder value paradigm in order to assess its ultimate justification both in the UK and the US. It further critically reflects on the extent to which shareholder value has shaped the direction of corporate strategies in a mono-dimensional way beyond having failed to provide sound mechanisms of control in large public firms.