This book is the result of a joint effort by researchers from the Center for Company Law. In this book, basic questions of business law and tax law have been articulated on the basis of concrete research results with respect to four periods in the lifetime of an enterprise: Establishment, financing, functioning and reorganization of the business. The answers to these fundamental questions provide building blocks for enhancing entrepreneurship by means of reforming and simplifying relevant regulations in the fields of business law and tax law. The researchers investigated particularly which legal rules proved to be unjustifiable hindrances for the development of enterprises.

The legislature has to strike a balance between efficiency and fairness. In this book, the authors have investigated whether the process of balancing could be improved. Using a bottom-up approach, the book starts by considering the business as sole proprietorship, followed by an analysis of partnerships (with or without separate ‘entity’-status), and finally the range of enterprises from closed companies to the high end of listed companies, assessing the question whether business law and tax law regulations with respect to the different legal forms of enterprises are still in line with the actual goals and demands of entrepreneurs.

The authors are all research fellows of the Center for Company Law. This enables them to do research in an integrated way, since the center facilitates a joint-venture between tax law, finance law, business economics and civil law. This unique opportunity is pivotal in conducting comparative research that takes into account the complex environment of enterprises. The approach offers many advantages and challenges for academics as well as policy makers. It provides a fresh view on the broader concept of the regulatory function and the border zones between business, tax, corporate, insolvency and securities law. This book presents the different research results in such a way that the reader gets the ‘full picture’.

Target group

Academics