Stakeholder Value Maximization as a Pathway to Economic Equality: A Welfare Economics Framework

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-795-8_13How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Stakeholder value maximization; wealth distribution; social welfare function; Gini coefficient; Atkinson index; corporate governance; CSR; inclusive capitalism

Abstract

Economic inequality remains one of the most persistent challenges facing contemporary capitalism, renewing debate about the purpose of firms beyond profit generation. This paper explores stakeholder value maximization (SVM) as a pathway to economic equality by integrating stakeholder theory with welfare economics. Existing research on stakeholder governance, value maximization, and inequality measurement is the basis of a weighted social welfare framework that combines the interests of employees, shareholders, and society while incorporating inequality aversion through the Atkinson index. The social welfare framework further demonstrates how it influences the distribution of economic benefits among all stakeholders firm-level policies, wage setting, geographic hiring, and CSR spending. The paper proposes a theoretical framework for evaluating the model using firm-level wage and CSR data, outlines econometric specifications, and examines wealth distribution. The analysis suggests that SVM can contribute to greater economic equality when governance structures align with stakeholder value creation.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Download article (PDF)

TY  - CONF
AU  - Palak Agarwal
AU  - Resham Chopra
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/08
TI  - Stakeholder Value Maximization as a Pathway to Economic Equality: A Welfare Economics Framework
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Advancing Economics (ICAE): Redefining Growth: Integrating Economy Society and Sustainability for a Resilient Future (ICAE 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 206
EP  - 227
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-795-8_13
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-795-8_13
ID  - Agarwal2026
ER  -