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13 U. P.R. Bus. L.J. 1 (2021)

handle is hein.journals/uprblj13 and id is 1 raw text is: DOES STAKEHOLDER CAPITALISM HAVE A (VIEWPOINT) DIVERSITY PROBLEM?
STEFAN J. PADFIELD*
Introduction                                                                        I
I. The Free Enterprise Project's 2021 Investor Value Voter Guide                    2
A. FEP's Investor Guide: Letter from the Director                              3
B. FEP's Investor Guide: Who We Are, What We Do & What's New for               4
2021
C. FEP's Investor Guide: 2021 Shareholder Proposals                            5
D. FEP & Allied Proposals: Viewpoint Diversity                                 5
E. FEP & Allied Proposals: Stakeholder Capitalism                              6
II. Related Research and Commentary                                                 7
A. Is Stakeholder Capitalism Just More Greenwashing?                           7
B. Is a Lack of Conservative Viewpoints Really a Problem?                      10
C. Is Stakeholder Capitalism Really Political?                               n
D. Stakeholder Capitalism's Costs                                              15
Conclusion                                                                         21
INTRODUCTION
On January 8, 2021, I moderated a panel discussion at the AALS' Annual Meeting: For
Whose Benefit Public Corporations? Perspectives on Shareholder and Stakeholder Primacy.2
The program description read as follows:
On August 19, 2019, the Business Roundtable, a self-described
association of chief executive officers of America's leading companies,
issued a statement seeking to redefine the purpose of the corporation by
moving away from shareholder primacy and towards a commitment to all
stakeholders. Since that time, corporate governance experts have
continued to vigorously debate the merits of shareholder primacy and
stakeholder primacy. Focusing on tensions and synergies among the
financial and other socio-economic interests of the corporation and its
fiduciaries, shareholders, and other stakeholders, this panel seeks to
provide relevant perspectives on the current state of this debate.
My role as moderator led me to subsequently contribute some of my own thoughts to the
relevant on-going discussion. Specifically, in this essay I am asking: Does stakeholder
capitalism have a viewpoint diversity problem? What follows constitutes an initial inquiry
into that issue.
Following this Introduction, Part II provides an overview of the Free Enterprise Project's
(FEP's) 2021 Investor Value Voter Guide,3 which focuses at least in part on both stakeholder
* Professor of Law, University of Akron School of Law.
About AALS, THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN LAW SCHOOLS, https://www.aals.org/about/ (The Association of
American Law Schools (AALS) is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit association of 176 member and 17 fee-paid law schools.) (last
visited Oct. 29, 2021).
Stefan J. Padfield, AALS Panel: Perspectives on Shareholder and Stakeholder Primacy (Friday, January 8, 2021, 1:15 -
2:30 pm), BUSINESS LAw PROF BLOG (Dec. 17, 2020), https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/business law/202o/12/aals-
panel-perspectives-on-shareholder-and-stakeholder-primacy-friday-january-8-2021-n5-23o-pm.html (Last visited
Oct. 30, 2021).
3   Free  Enterprise  Project,  Investor  Value  Voter  Guide  2021,  THE  NATIONAL  CENTER,
https://nationalcenter.org/investor-value-voter-guide-2021/ (Last visited Oct. 30, 2021).

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