Governance and accountability models in Italian certified benefit corporations

Abstract Benefit corporations institutionalize a new hybrid corporate form of business that allows for both profit and social objectives. Benefit corporations are traditional corporations with modified obligations; they commit to produce a benefit or purpose on top of their for-profit motive, and they voluntarily bind to higher accountability and transparency standards. The aim of this paper is to shed new light on the governance and accountability procedures of certified benefit corporations (CBCs) in Italy since Italy was the first country after the United States to introduce the Società Benefit Law in 2016. Namely, this work explores how CBCs integrate benefit-driven indicators into their structure, providing a renewed governance framework. To achieve this goal, a pilot case was conducted and 12 cross-sector in-depth interviews were performed with top management in seven Italian CBCs and triangulated with structured documents. What emerged from the findings is that there is a shift in the models of corporate governance where non-profits are entering the for-profit sector and that for-profits are broadening their mission to include social and environmental goals. This extends the objectives of traditional forms of business to incorporate welfare objectives.