Content deleted Content added
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit Advanced mobile edit |
No edit summary |
||
(89 intermediate revisions by 62 users not shown) | |||
Line 2:
{{Other uses}}
{{Redirect|Firm}}
{{also|Corporation}}
{{More inline citations needed|date=July 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Capitalism sidebar}}
[[File:Münster, LVM, Bürogebäude -- 2013 -- 5149-51.jpg|thumb|A modern corporate office building in [[Münster]], North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany]]
[[File:Nokia office building in Hervanta Tampere 1.jpg|thumb|An office building of [[Nokia Corporation]] in [[Hervanta]],
A '''company''', abbreviated as '''co.''', is a [[Legal personality|legal entity]] representing an association of legal people, whether [[Natural person|natural]], [[
Over time, companies have evolved to have the following features: "separate legal personality, limited liability, transferable shares, investor ownership, and a managerial hierarchy".<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Turner |first=John D. |date=2024-01-30 |title=Three centuries of corporate governance in the United Kingdom |journal=The Economic History Review |language=en |doi=10.1111/ehr.13326 |issn=0013-0117|doi-access=free }}</ref> The company, as an entity, was created by the [[State (polity)|state]] which granted the privilege of incorporation.<ref name=":0" />
Companies take various forms, such as:
* [[voluntary association]]s, which may include [[nonprofit organization]]s
* [[List of legal entity types by country|business entities]], whose aim is
* financial entities and [[bank]]s
* programs or [[Educational institution|educational institutions]]
A company can be created as a legal person so that the company itself has [[limited liability]] as members perform or fail to discharge their
==Meanings and definitions==
Line 39 ⟶ 43:
| isbn = 9780324829556
| access-date = 20 Apr 2019
}}</ref> with a discrete [[legal
===Etymology===
The English word, "''company''", has its origins in the [[Old French]] term {{Lang|fro|compagnie}} (first recorded in 1150), meaning
=== Semantics and usage ===
Line 48 ⟶ 52:
Compare:
{{OEtymD|company}} - '[...] the word having been used in reference to trade guilds from late 14c.'
</ref>
Compare:
{{OEtymD|company}} - 'From late 14c. as "a number of persons united to perform or carry out anything jointly," which developed a commercial sense of "business association" by 1550s, the word having been used in reference to trade guilds from late 14c.'
Line 64 ⟶ 68:
===China===
According to the [[Company Law of the People's Republic of China]], companies include the limited liability company and joint-stock limited company which founded in the [[Mainland China|mainland]] China.
===United Kingdom===
Line 80 ⟶ 84:
{{See also|List of companies of the United States by state}}
In the [[United States]], a company is not necessarily a corporation. For example, a company may be a "[[corporation]], [[partnership]], association, [[joint-stock company]], [[Investment trust|trust]], [[Mutual fund|fund]], or organized group of [[person]]s, whether incorporated or not, and (in an official capacity) any receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, or similar official, or liquidating [[Law of agency|agent]], for any of the foregoing".<ref>{{cite book | year = 1891 | chapter = company | editor1-last = Garner | editor1-first = Bryan A. | editor1-link = Bryan A. Garner | title = Black's Law Dictionary | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sgNfDwAAQBAJ | series = Black's Law, 9th Edition | volume = 1 | edition = 9 | location = St. Paul, Minnesota | publisher = West Publishing, Inc | publication-date = 2009 | page = 318 | isbn = 9780314199492 | access-date = 20 Apr 2019 | quote = "2. A corporation, partnership, association, joint-stock company, trust, fund, or organized group of persons, whether incorporated or not, and (in an official capacity) any receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, or similar official, or liquidating [[Law of agency|agent]], for any of the foregoing. Investment Company Act 2(a)(8)(15 USCA 80a-2(a)(8))." }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="Black's">[[Black's Law Dictionary]]. Second Pocket Edition. Bryan A. Garner, editor. West. 2001.</ref>
==Types==
Line 91 ⟶ 94:
* '''A company limited by guarantee with a share capital:''' A hybrid entity, usually used where the company is formed for non-commercial purposes, but the activities of the company are partly funded by investors who expect a return. This type of company may no longer be formed in the UK, although provisions still exist in law for them to exist.<ref name="uk" />
* '''A [[limited liability company]]''': "A company—statutorily authorized in certain states—that is characterized by limited liability, management by members or managers, and limitations on ownership transfer", i.e., L.L.C.<ref name="Black's"/> LLC structure has been called "hybrid" in that it "combines the characteristics of a corporation and of a partnership or [[sole proprietorship]]". Like a corporation, it has limited liability for members of the company, and like a partnership it has "flow-through taxation to the members" and must be "dissolved upon the death or bankruptcy of a member".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/llc.asp#ixzz2CEzgE239|title=Limited Liability Company (LLC) Definition - Investopedia|author=root|work=Investopedia|access-date=November 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121127013955/http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/llc.asp#ixzz2CEzgE239|archive-date=November 27, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>
* '''An [[unlimited company]] with or without a share capital''': A hybrid entity, a company where the liability of members or shareholders for the debts (if any) of the company are not limited. In this case, the doctrine of a veil of incorporation does not apply.{{cn|date=February 2023}}
Less common types of companies are:
* '''Companies formed by letters patent''': Most corporations by letters patent are [[corporation sole|corporations sole]] and not companies as the term is commonly understood today.
* '''[[Royal charter|
* '''Statutory companies''': Relatively rare today, certain companies have been formed by a private statute passed in the relevant jurisdiction.
|