Abstract

Bridoux and Stoelhorst (2022) employ Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom’s institutional design principles to develop two models of stakeholder governance. They argue that these “community governance” models will help achieve a fairer distribution of stakeholder value compared with approaches that centralize governance in the hands of management. We identify four characteristics, however, that thwart any straightforward application of these community governance models to business firms: ease of exit; lack of legacy social capital; heterogeneity of interests; and power imbalances. We then conclude, following Ostrom herself, that governance often requires external institutional arrangements that stakeholder theorists have not fully appreciated.