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Smith, Susan Lea --- "Chartering Sustainable Transnational Corporations" [2012] ELECD 659; in Le Bouthillier, Yves; Cohen, Alfie Miriam; Gonzalez Marquez, Juan Jose; Mumma, Albert; Smith, Susan (eds), "Poverty Alleviation and Environmental Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012)

Book Title: Poverty Alleviation and Environmental Law

Editor(s): Le Bouthillier, Yves; Cohen, Alfie Miriam; Gonzalez Marquez, Juan Jose; Mumma, Albert; Smith, Susan

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781003282

Section: Chapter 15

Section Title: Chartering Sustainable Transnational Corporations

Author(s): Smith, Susan Lea

Number of pages: 29

Extract:

15. Chartering sustainable transnational
corporations
Susan Lea Smith

15.1 THE CHALLENGE OF CREATING SUSTAINABLE
TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS
Transnational corporations, like any other corporation, are legal fictions recog-
nized by the government to serve the public interest.1 They are recognized as
legal entities,2 granted rights such as freedom of speech and due process as if
they were persons,3 given privileges such as limited liability to induce investors
to private capital, and endowed with perpetual existence,4 a benefit not yet
received by mere mortals.
As a result of this remarkable set of legal policies, transnational corporations
have been able to aggregate unprecedented, almost unimaginable amounts of
extremely fluid and geographically mobile capital. Just the 300 largest global
corporations hold 25 per cent of the entire world's productive assets.5
The magnitude of operations of these corporations is difficult to compre-
hend. Wal-Mart's 2007 revenues were $378.8 billion, more than the entire
gross domestic product of countries such as Austria, Greece, Denmark, Iran,
South Africa, Argentina, or any of 150 other countries. Its revenues are equiv-
alent to those of the 25th largest country in the world. ExxonMobil's 2007
revenues were $371.8 billion, more than the gross domestic product of 155
countries, equivalent to the 27th largest country in the world.
Transnational corporations, by virtue of their wealth, their control of phys-
ical capital and real property, and their ability to generate jobs, have unparal-
leled political power in virtually all nations in ...