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{{Other uses}}
{{Redirect|Firm}}
▲{{short description|Association or collection of individuals}}
{{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
A '''company''', abbreviated as '''co.''', is a [[Legal personality|legal entity]] representing an association of people, whether [[Natural person|natural]], [[Legal personality|legal]] or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared goals. Companies take various forms, such as:▼
[[File:Nokia office building in Hervanta Tampere 1.jpg|thumb|An office building of [[Nokia Corporation]] in [[Hervanta]], Tampere, Finland]]
▲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
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 duties according to the publicly declared [[Incorporation (business)|incorporation]] published policy. When a company closes, it may need to be [[Liquidation|liquidated]] to avoid further legal obligations. Companies may associate and collectively register themselves as new companies; the resulting entities are often known as [[corporate group]]s.
==Meanings and definitions==
Compare a definition of a corporation: ''"Perhaps the best definition of a corporation was given by Chief Justice John Marshall in a famous Supreme Court decision in 1819. A corporation, he said, 'is an artificial person, invisible, intangible, and existing only in contemplation of the law.' In other words, a '''corporation''' [...] is an artificial person, created by law, with most of the legal rights of a real person."''
{{cite book
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| 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
=== Semantics and usage ===
By 1303, the word company referred to [[Guild|trade guilds]].<ref>
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.'
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== Companies around the world ==
{{Globalize|section|Western culture|date=June 2019}}
===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===
{{See also|List of companies of the United Kingdom}}
In [[English law]] and in legal jurisdictions based upon it, a company is a
* [[Private company limited by guarantee|Private companies limited by guarantee]]
* [[Community interest company]]
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* [[Public limited company|Public limited companies]] - companies, usually large, which are permitted to (but do not have to) offer their shares to the public, for example on a [[stock exchange]]
In the United Kingdom, a [[partnership]] is not legally a company, but may sometimes be referred to (informally) as a "company". It may be referred to as a
===United States===
{{
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>
▲===China===
==Types==
{{for|a country-by-country listing|types of business entity}}
{{see also|Business#Forms}}
* '''A [[Private company limited by guarantee|company limited by guarantee]] (CLG):''' Commonly used where companies are formed for non-commercial purposes, such as clubs or charities. The members guarantee the payment of certain (usually nominal) amounts if the company goes into [[liquidation|insolvent liquidation]], but otherwise, they have no economic rights in relation to the company. This type of company is common in [[England]]. A company limited by guarantee may be with or without having [[share capital]].
* '''A [[Private company limited by shares|company limited by shares]]:''' The most common form of the company used for business ventures. Specifically, a limited company is a "company in which the liability of each shareholder is limited to the amount individually invested" with corporations being "the most common example of a limited company".<ref name="Black's"/> This type of company is common in
* '''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 [[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>
Less common types of companies are:
* '''Companies formed by letters patent'''
* '''[[Royal charter|
* '''Statutory companies'''
When "Ltd" is placed after the company's name, it signifies a limited company, and "PLC" ([[public limited company]]) indicates that its shares are widely held.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/z4br87h/revision/3|title=BBC Bitesize - GCSE Business - Forms of business ownership - Revision 3|website=BBC Bitesize|access-date=2018-08-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180901050059/https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/z4br87h/revision/3|archive-date=September 1, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
In the legal context, the owners of a company are normally referred to as the "members". In a company limited or unlimited by shares (formed or incorporated with a share capital), this will be the [[shareholder]]s. In a [[Private company limited by guarantee|company limited by guarantee]], this will be the guarantors. Some [[Offshore financial center|offshore jurisdictions]] have created special forms of [[offshore company]] in a bid to attract business for their jurisdictions. Examples include
Companies are also sometimes distinguished for legal and regulatory purposes between '''[[public limited company|public companies]]''' and '''[[privately held company|private companies]]'''. Public companies are companies whose shares can be publicly traded, often (although not always) on a [[stock exchange]] which imposes [[Listing (finance)|listing requirements]]/[[Listing Rules]] as to the issued shares, the trading of shares and future issue of shares to help bolster the reputation of the exchange or particular market of an exchange. Private companies do not have publicly traded shares, and often contain restrictions on transfers of shares. In some jurisdictions, private companies have maximum numbers of shareholders.
A [[parent company]] is a company that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors; the second company being deemed
==See also==
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==Further reading==
* Alan Dignam
* [[John Micklethwait]] and [[Adrian Wooldridge]], ''The Company:
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Company|volume=6|pages=795–803|short=1}}▼
==External links==
{{Wiktionary|Company}}
{{Wikiquote|Companies}}
{{Commons category|Companies}}
<!-- Please do not link to any employment services, free or otherwise. Link to informative sites *about* employment, instead. -->
* {{cite web |title=Labor and Employment |url=http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/us/labor.htm |work=Government Information Library |publisher=University of Colorado at Boulder |access-date=2009-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090612060749/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/us/labor.htm |archive-date=2009-06-12 |url-status=dead }}
▲* Dignam, A and Lowry, J. ''Company Law''. Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]], 2006. {{ISBN|978-0-19-928936-3}}.
* {{cite web |title=Get Information About a Company |url=https://www.gov.uk/get-information-about-a-company |publisher=Gov.UK }}
▲* [[John Micklethwait]] and [[Adrian Wooldridge]], ''The Company: a Short History of a Revolutionary Idea''. New York: Modern Library, 2003.
▲* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Company|volume=6|pages=795–803|short=1}}
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[[Category:Legal entities]]
[[Category:Companies| ]]
[[Category:Corporations]]
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