The Modern Corporation and Private Property

This monumental work on the corporation is one of those enduring classics that many cite but few have read.Graced with a new introduction by Weidenbaum and Jensen, this new edition makes this classic available to a new generation.Written in the early 1930s, The Modern Corporation and Private Property remains the fundamental introduction to the internal organization of the corporation in modern society.Combining the analytical skills of an attorney with those of an economist, Berle and Means raise the central questions, even when their answers have been superseded by changing circumstances. The book's most enduring theme is the separation of ownership from control of the modern corporation and its consequences.Berle and Means display keen awareness of the divergent interests of directors and managers, and of each from owners of the firm.Among their predictions are the characteristic increase in size of the modem corporation and concentration of the economy.The authors view stock exchang