Die neue Ökonomie des Shareholder Value

Corporate Governance im Wandel

Abstract

In this paper we argue that the growing importance of the stock mark et i s one central element of t he s o called New Economy. W e analyse the economic and political reasons, the mechanisms and consequences of the increasing capital market orientation of enterprises. In the first section we want to show the fundamental difference between the maximisation of the stock price and of the profitability of the corporation. T he r easons o f the increasing c apital m ark et o rientation a re d ealt w ith in the second section. In the third section we are discussing the shareholder value concept. The institutional changes we can find in the German Corporate Governance system which are connected with the shareholder value debate are described in the fourth section. The last section sums up the consequences and the specific contradictions of the increasing capital market orientation like the contradiction between long-term and short-term maximisation of returns, the impending hollowing-out of firm competencies, and the proliferation of cash burning business models.