The cultural grammar of governance
The UK Code of Corporate Governance, reflexivity, and the limits of ‘soft’ regulation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9891085 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jeroen Veldman (0000-0001-8615-5844, City University, UK,, corresponding author), Hugh Willmott (0000-0002-7945-7796, City University, UK and Cardiff Business School, UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 69 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 581-603 |
| Publication date | 2016-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Human Relations (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-7267 • E-ISSN: 1741-282X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0018726715593160 |
| OpenAlex | W2290015409 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 50 |
We identify limits of ‘reflexive governance’ by examining the UK Code of Corporate Governance that is celebrated for its ‘reflexivity’. By placing the historical genesis of the Code within its politico-economic context, it is shown how its scope and penetration is impeded by a shallow, ‘single loop’ of reflexivity. Legitimized by agency theory, the Code is infused by a ‘cultural grammar’ that perpetuates relations of shareholder primacy as it restricts accountability to narrow forms of information disclosure directed exclusively at shareholders. Engagement of a deeper, ‘double loop’ reflexivity allows account to be taken of the historical conditions and theoretical conceptions that shape practices and outcomes of corporate governance. Only then is it possible to disclose, challenge and reform narrow conceptions, boundaries and workings of ‘reflexive governance’
Accountability · Agency (philosophy · Business · Context (archaeology · Corporate governance · Economics · Law and economics · Management · Political economy · Political science · Reflexivity · Shareholder · Social science · Sociology · Accounting · Corporate Finance and Governance · Corporate Insolvency and Governance · Global Financial Regulation and Crises · Law
Democracy in an age of corporate colonization
From Higher Aims to Hired Hands
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
The origins and conceptualizations of ‘triple-loop’ learning
Theory of the firm
Critical Policy Studies
Reflexive Governance for Sustainable Development
The Strange Non-Death of Neoliberalism
Costs and benefits of neoliberalism. A class analysis
The Combined Code on Corporate Governance
Governance
Shareholder Primacy and the Distribution of Wealth
Brief History of Neoliberalism
Hard and Soft Law in International Governance
Market formation and governance in international financial markets
The Politics of Reflexive Governance
Organizational Learning
Varieties in Capitalism, Varieties of Association
Mapping the cultural grammar of reflexivity
Maximizing shareholder value
The crisis of neoliberalism and the future of international institutions
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |