Question

Offer your own reasoned view on whether it would be in your rational self-interest to enter into the game of business if the game were to be populated by lots of corporations governed in accordance with shareholder wealth maximization (SWM), and IF you did not know whether or not you would be a shareholder in the game once the game started.

Answer 1

The variability of chance of inclusion among the beneficiaries of profit is one of the deterrants of participation in such exercise. The decision of inclusion / participation in any such system depends much on the probability of success in being among the shareholders. This probability can be determined by past history of the games or with help of predictors. Another deciding factor would be the sustainability of the game, which has only objective of shareholders' wealth maximisation. The objective might lead to unethical way of doing business, which might violate the law of the land or common law of ethics, affecting the longevity of game. In this case, the proposition might not prove to be lucrative even after participation. Yet another deciding factor is the nature of participants and the equation of power among them, which also determines the position of a participant in relation to other players and the power it wields when it comes to decision making process within the game of business, provided one gets a chance to be a shareholder.