A Short History of the Corporation

This module explores the history of business corporations. It provides background information useful for a unit or course on business government and society, business ethics, and corporate governance. The corporation is presented as the practical solution to a series of related historical problems such as providing for orderly transfer of property, pooling capital, and spreading financial risk. This module has been developed as a part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation, "Collaborative Development of Ethics Across the Curriculum Resources and Sharing of Best Practices," NSF-SES-0551779.