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A corporation is a legal entity separate from the persons that form it. In British tradition it is the term designating a body corporate, where it can be either a corporation sole (an office held by an individual natural person, which is a legal entity separate from that person) or a corporation aggregate (involving more persons). In American and, increasingly, international usage, the term denotes a body corporate formed to conduct business, and this meaning of corporation is discussed in the remaining part of this entry (the limited company in British usage).

Corporations exist as a product of corporate law, and their rules balance the interests of the shareholders that invest their capital and the employees who contribute their labor. People work together in corporations to produce value and generate income. In modern times, corporations have become an increasingly dominant part of economic life. People rely on corporations for employment, for their goods and services, for the value of the pensions, for economic growth and social development.

The defining feature of a corporation is its legal independence from the people who create it. If a corporation fails, shareholders normally only stand to lose their investment (and possibly, in the unusual case where the shares are not fully paid up, any amount outstanding on them - and not even that in the case of a No liability company), and employees will lose their jobs, but neither will be further liable for debts that remain owing to the corporation's creditors unless they have separately varied this, e.g. with personal guarantees. This rule is called limited liability, and it is why the names of corporations in the UK end with "Ltd." (or some variant like "Inc." and "plc").

Despite not being natural persons, corporations are recognized by the law to have rights and responsibilities like actual people. Corporations can exercise human rights against real individuals and the state,^[1] and they may be responsible for human rights violations.^[2] Just as they are "born" into existence through its members obtaining a certificate of incorporation, they can "die" when they lose money into insolvency. Corporations can even be convicted of criminal offences, such as fraud and manslaughter.^[3] Five common characteristics of the modern corporation, according to Harvard University Professors Hansmann and Kraakman are...

Corporation Subcategories Corporation Articles How to Form a limited liability company by Rudra Rath Dec 17, 2008 A limited liability company is a legal business entity where members can not be personally liable for debts, as it separates a business and it’s assets from the owners of the company. The LLC is relatively easy to establish in comparison to other ent... Coastal Investment Realty Corporation is a highly respected real estate firm that puts their client by erin phillips Feb 25, 2008 “Win Big with Foreclosures” February 15, 2008 If you think you’d enjoy living in Florida, or just see the wisdom of owning Florida real estate as an investment, it might be worth your while to investigate the Florida foreclosures market. Fore... Just Who the Heck Are Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie? by Kristin Abouelata Dec 09, 2007 Who are Freddie, Fannie and Ginnie? Why do they care so much about your mortgage? Have you ever heard anyone in the mortgage industry mention these names before? Did you ever wonder who these people were that had so much to say about whethe... Corporations- How To Start A Business With Bad Credit by Bryan Pringle, Ph.D. Nov 07, 2007 bryan_pringle@hotmail.com. Best regards Bryan Pringle, Ph.D. http://www.apply-forcreditcards-online.com Corporations- How To Start A Business With Bad Credit Possessing a bad credit history, is a very common hurdle for individua... Tips to Raise Your Credit Score by Marco Angioni II Oct 07, 2007 In my previous post What are the Components of a FICO score?, I discussed the different components of a FICO score and their respective weights in determining... Loans for SMEs and Corporations by Aisha Cristal May 02, 2007 Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) often find themselves in financial difficulties. However, big and reputed corporations seldom face these types of problems. They usually have several sources and resources to take care of their finance related probl... Reasons for investing in an offshore corporation by Clint Jhonson Apr 22, 2007 On a rather frequent basis, the general opinion tends to represent the idea of investing offshore as a serpentine, questionable move. People compose this general image when they come across or discuss the notion of offshore corporation: another forei... Offshore Banking in Panama by Robert Bell Apr 09, 2007 Offshore banking is an activity that initially referred to a location off the British mainland, thus the term offshore. But through the years of practice, offshore banking has veered away from a geographical definition. Offshore banking centers are i... Financing a New Business Start-up With A Unsecured Line of Credit by Chris Chandler Apr 05, 2007 Throughout the United States every year, there are thousands of brand new small business start-ups. Each new business has the same goal, and that is to make money. Making money is not always easy starting from scratch, so it is often important to loo... Buying Your First Home And The True About Interest Rates by Kevin Cox Mar 22, 2007 Buying your first home can be a challenging thing. There many things that goes into buying a house that the first time home buyer may not know about. One thing that goes into buying a home is a down payment. A down payment is money you put up front t...