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"Corporate Purpose" as a False Friend: A Bibliometric Analysis

Mathias Siems

Victoria University of Wellington Law Review2025https://doi.org/10.26686/vuwlr.v55i3.9832article
ABDC B
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

The term "corporate purpose" is frequently used, both in academic and non-academic writings today. However, it is also quite ambiguous, particularly in relation to the precise obligations that companies may be expected to fulfil. By presenting a bibliometric analysis of this term over recent decades, this article assesses its popularity and usage. It finds that the term "corporate purpose" was already quite popular in the 1960s and 1980s, yet with different meanings than today; that recent publications discuss this term in more detail than in the past; that it is today often associated with social and environmental topics; and that it has recently become a term frequently used in the management and business literature. Overall, the empirical findings of this article confirm that while the term has many ambiguities, and thus may not be a useful legal term, it may well be suitable as a conceptual framing device for the importance of social and environmental interests related to companies.

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Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.26686/vuwlr.v55i3.9832

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{mathias2025,
  title        = {{"Corporate Purpose" as a False Friend: A Bibliometric Analysis}},
  author       = {Mathias Siems},
  journal      = {Victoria University of Wellington Law Review},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.26686/vuwlr.v55i3.9832},
}

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"Corporate Purpose" as a False Friend: A Bibliometric Analysis

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.