The Legal Structure of the Joint‑stock Company as the Ultimate Source of Corporate Governance

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to verify the hypothesis according to which the principles of corporate governance constitute an effective complement to the legal norms pertaining to the supervision over the operation of joint‑stock companies, thereby improving the quality and effectiveness of their operation. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: An analysis of the legal regulations governing joint‑stock companies reveals that, while providing a potential for further development of this organisational and legal form, they also contain areas that are ambiguous or open to abuse. Therefore, steps should be taken to close the existing legal loopholes by providing governance guidelines that would have the desired effect without burdening enterprises with excessive bureaucracy. In their work, the authors have employed the hypothetico‑deductive method. THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The present work consists of five parts. It begins with an analysis of the legal structure of joint‑stock companies and the fundamental principles of their operation justifying the implementation and observance of good practices. In the concluding part, we discuss the effects that can be achieved by companies with a higher level of corporate governance. RESEARCH RESULTS: The prevailing level of corporate culture affects the ability of national economies to accumulate capital resources, use them efficiently, and successfully monitor their allocation. This corroborates the hypothesis put forward in the present work, according to which the rules of corporate governance constitute an effective complement to the legal norms pertaining to the supervision over the operation of joint‑stock companies, thereby improving the quality and efficiency of their operation. CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Solutions offered by corporate governance meet the market’s need for an effective tool for managing investor expectations that would be based on the thought‑out building of a stable market position for a given company rather than on dictates and prohibitions.