Institutions and Ownership

Abstract

This chapter widens the general discussion, arguing that stakeholding provides a distinctive and novel way of looking at civil society, the state and markets. Stakeholding puts emphasis on supporting a thriving civil society, such as churches, voluntary groups and self help organisations. The state has a role to play in fostering diversity, for example using the law to protect building societies from pressures to demutualise. Markets have an undeniably important role to play in wealth creation in stakeholding, although this is fashioned in ways that try not to threaten social cohesion. The benefits and tensions that arise from the novel ways in which institutions are constructed in stakeholding are considered.