An empirical investigation of the goals of listed firms on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange

Abstract

In economics and finance it is often assumed that firms merely seek the maximization of shareholder wealth. In order to test this hypothesis an empirical investigation on the goal structure of firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange was performed with special reference to the relative importance of the concept of shareholder wealth maximization and social responsibility of the firm.
The responses indicated that the wealth maximization hypothesis tested in this survey appears to be applicable for the firms which participated, albeit not always in terms of all the possible parameters of the wealth maximization hypothesis.