ECONOMICS REPORT - Business Organizations, Part 2: The Corpo

ECONOMICS REPORT - Business Organizations, Part 2: The Corporation
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, February 13, 2004

This is Bob Doughty¹ with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Last week, we discussed ways that many small businesses are organized. This week, we examine the structure of big business. The most complex is the corporation. This kind of business organization is designed to have an unlimited² lifetime.

Investors³ in a corporation own stock. This is a share of the ownership. Investors can trade their shares or keep them as long as the company is in business. Investors may get paid dividends⁴, a small amount of money for each share they own.

A corporation is a legal entity⁵, a being separate from its owners. Shareholders⁶ are not responsible for the debts of the corporation. Shareholders can only lose the money they invest in stock. The corporation itself is responsible for its debts.

A board of directors controls the corporate⁷ policies. The directors appoint top company officers. The directors might or might not hold any shares in the corporation.

United States tax law recognizes two general kinds of corporations. The first is known as the C corporation. C corporations were the only kind for many years. Most pay taxes on their profits. Shareholders also pay taxes on dividends they receive. Some people call this "double taxation⁸."

So, in nineteen-eighty-six, the government created the S corporation. An S corporation is not taxed by the federal government. It is like a partnership⁹. It can pass its profits and losses on to its owners. But S corporations cannot have more than seventy-five shareholders. There are other restrictions¹⁰ as well.

The federal tax agency is the Internal Revenue Service. It says that in two-thousand, about fifty-seven percent of corporations in the United States were S corporations. Their number has grown each year since the start. Yet they control only a small part of the value of all corporations.

Not all corporations are traditional businesses that sell stock. The American Red Cross, for example, is organized as a non-profit corporation.

Corporations can be huge or not so huge. They may have a few major shareholders. Or the ownership may be spread widely among the general public. Incorporating offers a way for businesses to gain the investments they need to grow. It also offers a way for the investors to limit their responsibility.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. This is Bob Doughty.

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 dividends   

红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金

参考例句：

• Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
• Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。

5 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

6 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

7 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

8 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

9 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

10 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制