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8 Eur. Bus. Org. L. Rev. 1 (2007)

handle is hein.journals/eunbuioiz8 and id is 1 raw text is: European Business Organization Law Review 8: 1-5 1 © 2007 T.M.c.ASSER PRESS DOI10.1017/S 1566752907000018 Editorial This issue of the European Business Organization Law Review is devoted to the most topical and important areas of company law reform, namely the revision of corporate forms and the introduction of unincorporated business entities such as partnerships and hybrid business forms. Focusing on the United States, the increased emphasis on competition between jurisdictions led observers in the 1980s to call for the creation of a set of new types of business entity that were suitable for different types of businesses. Over the last two decades, we have witnessed the rise of the new unincorporated entities and the way they operate. The success of these new types of business associations is not accidental. Unsurprisingly, a large number of business parties have a preference for the new and more flexible types of entity, which have a perceived competitive advantage over corporations. Several factors contribute to the growth of these forms in recent years. First, States have responded to the need for business structures that are more flexible contractually, which has reduced reliance on or eliminated inefficient older forms. Second, the liberalisation of partnership law has been accompanied by the virtual elimination of the distinction between partnerships and corporations, accompanied by a move towards the recognition of partnerships as entities. Third, the increase in the choice of new contractual limited liability entities for business has resulted in the erosion of traditional restrictions on the internal structure of legal business forms. In the Europe Union, the legal reform process has been advanced considerably by a recent wave of decisions by the European Court of Justice, which has stimulated the mobility of small businesses toward the United Kingdom, and hence the introduction of various legislative strategies to meet the needs of businesses that might be lured to more attractive jurisdictions. Naturally, the increased mobility of small companies has led some European jurisdictions to be responsive. The most obvious reaction by lawmakers has been to pursue im- provements in the efficiency of their existing unincorporated business forms, while seeking to minimise the cost of regulation by lowering obligations. In this sense, lawmakers focus on modernisation and simplification strategies without regard to the introduction of new business entities. The articles in this issue are grouped into two categories: the expansion of unincorporated business entities in the United States and the law reform process of limited liability forms in European jurisdictions. In the first set of articles, McCahery, Vermeulen, Hisatake and Saito argue, in 'Traditional and Innovative Approaches to Legal Reform: The New Company Law', that the introduction of new legal entities is more likely to meet the contracting needs of professional firms, small and medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs than simply making 'patch-up' reforms to existing company law

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