Beate Sjåfjell

Professor
Image of Beate Sjåfjell
Norwegian version of this page
Email b.k.sjafjell@jus.uio.no
Phone +47-22859381
Mobile phone +47-95931283
Room 232
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Visiting address Domus Media West Karl Johans gate 47 0162 Oslo
Postal address Department of Private Law PB 6706 St. Olavs plass 0130 Oslo Norway

Background

Beate Sjåfjell is Professor Dr. Juris at our Department (since 2011), and holds a fractional appointment as Adjunct Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management (since 2016), and as Professorial Research Fellow at the Law School of Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia (also since 2016). Beate is founder and head of the Oslo Faculty’s Research Group Companies, Markets and Sustainability, which is now in its second period (2017-2021), as well as several international networks and projects.

Beate’s publications include the edited volumes Sustainable Public Procurement under EU Law (Cambridge University Press, 2016, co-editor Anja Wiesbrock), Company Law and Sustainability (Cambridge University Press, 2015, co-editor: Benjamin Richardson), which is being translated into Korean, and The Greening of European Business Under EU Law (Routledge, 2015, co-editor Anja Wiesbrock), as well as the monograph Towards a Sustainable European Company Law (Kluwer Law International, 2009). Beate has published a number of papers, notably on EU company law and the integration of sustainable development. Many of her papers are available at SSRN, where she is among the top one per cent of authors.

Through active and innovative dissemination and communication Beate contributes to corporate law debates and sustainability discussions both in the public debate and in academia in Norway and internationally.

Special fields

Beate Sjåfjell’s main field is company law and corporate governance, with much of her research concentrating on the regulation of business in the broader context of sustainability. Already in her doctoral thesis, successfully defended in May 2008, Beate broke new ground, identifying and integrating sustainability as an overarching objective into EU company law and securities law. This was followed up in the Sustainable Companies Project (2010-2014), which focused on environmental sustainability in its multi-jurisdictional comparative analysis of company and accounting law. Beate’s research interests also include European treaty and national constitutional law, regulatory theory and law and economics, as well as business and financial market law generally, labour law, environmental law and human rights. An increasing interdisciplinary focus is reflected in the successful proposal for Sustainable Market Actors for Responsible Trade (SMART), and in Beate’s fractional appointment with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Beate collaborates extensively with scholars in Norway and abroad. The international nature of Beate’s work is reflected also through the research networks she is involved in, including two international networks she has founded: the Sustainable Market Actors Network and Daughters of Themis: International Network of Female Business Scholars.

At the Faculty, Beate is responsible for coordinating company law research at our Department and for the advanced company law elective for master students, and she supervises master students and PhD candidates on a variety of issues. Current PhD projects under Beate’s supervision include Linn Anker-Sørensen’s project with the tentative title: ‘Control Decoupling & Information Asymmetry – Implications for a modern understanding of corporate groups and intermediated control’.

Research projects

Beate is involved in several externally funded research projects. Her first project was the Sustainable Companies Project (2010-2014), which she initiated and coordinated starting 18 months after completing her doctorate. During the project period, Beate expanded the project team from the three original Nordic partners to a dedicated international team of 40 scholars that delivered ground-breaking results through its multi-jurisdictional environmental sustainability analysis. Sustainable Companies was funded by the Norwegian Research Council under the programme Environment2015 (Miljø2015).

The largest project to date is Sustainable Market Actors for Responsible Trade (SMART) (2016-2020), funded by the EU’s framework programme for research and innovation Horizon 2020, under the programme INT-4-2015 ‘Europe as a Global Actor: in search of greater policy coherence for development’. This is the first H2020 coordinator project at the Oslo Faculty of Law. SMART’s international team of 25 partner institutions and 50 plus scholars is supported by the steadily growing  Sustainable Market Actors Network, and aims to deliver interdisciplinary and systemic research on the regulatory complexity within which European market actors operate, both the private sector and the public sector in its many market roles.

Memberships/networks

Tags: China, Brazil, USA, South Africa, Nordic, Global South

Publications

Many of Beate Sjåfjell's papers in English are freely downloadable on SSRN.

An overview of all publications may be found in the in the Norwegian database Cristin.

  • Sjåfjell, Beate Kristine (2018). Dismantling the Legal Myth of Shareholder Primacy: The Corporation as a Sustainable Market Actor , In Nina Boeger & Charlotte Villiers (ed.),  Shaping the Corporate Landscape.  Hart Publishing Ltd.  ISBN 9781509914326.  4.
  • Russell, Roseanne & Sjåfjell, Beate Kristine (2017). Introducing Daughters of Themis: International Network of Female Business Scholars . International and comparative corporate law journal.  ISSN 1388-7084.  12(2), s 7- 12
  • Sjåfjell, Beate Kristine (2017). Achieving Corporate Sustainability: What is the Role of the Shareholder? , In Hanne Birkmose (ed.),  Shareholders' Duties.  Kluwer Law International.  ISBN 9789041166708.  Chapter 18.
  • Sjåfjell, Beate Kristine (2017). Regulating for Corporate Sustainability: Why the Public-Private Divide Misses the Point , In Barnali Choudhury & Martin Petrin (ed.),  Understanding the Company: Corporate Governance and Theory.  Cambridge University Press.  ISBN 9781316536384.  Chapter 6.  s 117 - 144
  • Sjåfjell, Beate Kristine (2017). When the Solution Becomes the Problem: The Triple Failure of Corporate Governance Codes , In Jean Jacques du Plessis & C.K. Low (ed.),  Corporate Governance Codes for the 21st Century: International Perspectives and Critical Analyse.  Springer.  ISBN 978-3-319-51868-8.  Chapter 2.  s 23 - 55
  • Sjåfjell, Beate Kristine; Nilsen, Heidi Rapp & Richardson, Benjamin J. (2017). Investing in Sustainability or Feeding on Stranded Assets? The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global . Wake Forest Law Review.  ISSN 0043-003X.
  • Anker-Sørensen, Linn & Sjåfjell, Beate Kristine (2016). Vår europeiske selskapsrett, 3. utgave . Selskapsrettstidsskriftet. Tidsskriftet for selskaper, markeder, samfunn og miljø.  ISSN 2387-337X.
  • Sjåfjell, Beate (2016). Sustainable public procurement as a driver for sustainable companies? The interface between company law and public procurement law, In Beate Sjåfjell & Wiesbrock Anja (ed.),  Sustainable Public Procurement under EU Law. New Perspectives on the State as Stakeholder.  Cambridge University Press.  ISBN 9781107129641.  Chapter 9.  s 182 - 205
  • Sjåfjell, Beate (2016). The Courts as Environmental Champions: The Norwegian Hempel Cases. European Company Law.  ISSN 1572-4999.  13(5), s 199- 206
  • Sjåfjell, Beate & Halvorssen, Anita M. (2016). The Legal Status of Oil and Gas Exploitation in the Arctic: The Case of Norway. Oil, Gas and Energy Law.  ISSN 1875-418X.  2 . doi: www.ogel.org/article.asp?key=3610
  • Sjåfjell, Beate & Wiesbrock, Anja (2016). Why should public procurement be about sustainability?, In Beate Sjåfjell & Wiesbrock Anja (ed.),  Sustainable Public Procurement under EU Law. New Perspectives on the State as Stakeholder.  Cambridge University Press.  ISBN 9781107129641.  Chapter 1.  s 1 - 22
  • Wiesbrock, Anja & Sjåfjell, Beate (2016). Public procurement’s potential for sustainability, In Beate Sjåfjell & Wiesbrock Anja (ed.),  Sustainable Public Procurement under EU Law. New Perspectives on the State as Stakeholder.  Cambridge University Press.  ISBN 9781107129641.  Chapter 11.  s 230 - 242
  • Anker-Sørensen, Linn & Sjåfjell, Beate (2015). Vår europeiske selskapsrett, 2. utgave. Selskapsrettstidsskriftet. Tidsskriftet for selskaper, markeder, samfunn og miljø.  ISSN 2387-337X.
  • Richardson, Benjamin J. & Sjåfjell, Beate (2015). Capitalism, the Sustainability Crisis and the Limitations of Current Business Governance, In Beate Sjåfjell & Benjamin J. Richardson (ed.),  Company Law and Sustainability: Legal Barriers and Opportunities.  Cambridge University Press.  ISBN 978-1-107-04327-5.  Chapter 1.  s 1 - 34
  • Sjåfjell, Beate (2015). Corporate governance for sustainability. The necessary reform of EU company law, In Beate Sjåfjell & Anja Wiesbrock (ed.),  The Greening of European Business under EU Law. Taking Article 11 TFEU Seriously.  Routledge.  ISBN 978-1-13-801956-0.  Chapter 6.
  • Sjåfjell, Beate (2015). Gender Diversity in the Board Room & Its Impacts: Is the Example of Norway a Way Forward?. Deakin Law Review.  ISSN 1321-3660.  20(1), s 25- 51
  • Sjåfjell, Beate (2015). The Legal Significance of Article 11 TFEU for EU Institutions and Member States, In Beate Sjåfjell & Anja Wiesbrock (ed.),  The Greening of European Business under EU Law. Taking Article 11 TFEU Seriously.  Routledge.  ISBN 978-1-13-801956-0.  Chapter 4.
  • Sjåfjell, Beate; Johnston, Andrew; Anker-Sørensen, Linn Cecilie; Millon, David & Richardson, Bejamin (2015). Shareholder Primacy: the Main Barrier to Sustainable Companies, In Beate Sjåfjell & Benjamin J. Richardson (ed.),  Company Law and Sustainability: Legal Barriers and Opportunities.  Cambridge University Press.  ISBN 978-1-107-04327-5.  Chapter 3.  s 79 - 147
  • Sjåfjell, Beate & Richardson, Benjamin J. (2015). The Future for Company Law and Sustainability, In Beate Sjåfjell & Benjamin J. Richardson (ed.),  Company Law and Sustainability: Legal Barriers and Opportunities.  Cambridge University Press.  ISBN 978-1-107-04327-5.  Chapter 8.  s 312 - 340
  • Wiesbrock, Anja & Sjåfjell, Beate (2015). The Jigsaw Puzzle of Sustainability, In Beate Sjåfjell & Anja Wiesbrock (ed.),  The Greening of European Business under EU Law. Taking Article 11 TFEU Seriously.  Routledge.  ISBN 978-1-13-801956-0.  Chapter 10.
  • Wiesbrock, Anja & Sjåfjell, Beate (2015). The importance of Article 11 TFEU for regulating business in the EU: Securing the very basis of our existence, In Beate Sjåfjell & Anja Wiesbrock (ed.),  The Greening of European Business under EU Law. Taking Article 11 TFEU Seriously.  Routledge.  ISBN 978-1-13-801956-0.  Chapter 1.
  • Anker-Sørensen, Linn Cecilie & Sjåfjell, Beate (2014). Vår europeiske selskapsrett . Selskapsrettstidsskriftet. Tidsskriftet for selskaper, markeder, samfunn og miljø.  ISSN 2387-337X.
  • Sjåfjell, Beate (2014). Sustainable Companies: Possibilities and Barriers in Norwegian Company Law . International and comparative corporate law journal.  ISSN 1388-7084.
  • Sjåfjell, Beate & Mähönen, Jukka (2014). Upgrading the Nordic Corporate Governance Model for Sustainable Companies . European Company Law.  ISSN 1572-4999.  11(2), s 58- 62
  • Sjåfjell, Beate & Anker-Sørensen, Linn Cecilie (2013). Directors’ Duties and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) , In Hanne Birkmose; Mette Neville & Karsten Engsig Sørensen (ed.),  Boards of directors in European companies – reshaping and harmonising their organisation and duties.  Kluwer Law International.  ISBN 9789041141415.  Chapter 7.
  • Sjåfjell, Beate & Anker-Sørensen, Linn Cecilie (2013). Directors duties' and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Social Science Research Network.  ISSN 1556-5068.
  • Sjåfjell, Beate & Kjelland, Cecilie (2013). Norway : corporate governance on the outskirts of the EU , In Andreas M. Fleckner & Klaus J. Hopt (ed.),  Comparative corporate governance : a functional and international analysis.  Cambridge University Press.  ISBN 978-1-107-02511-0.  Chapter 16.  s 702 - 752
  • Sjåfjell, Beate (2012). Quo vadis, Europe? The significance of sustainable development as objective, principle and rule of EU law, In Cecilia Marcela Bailliet (ed.),  Non-State Actors, Soft Law and Protective Regimes: From the Margins.  Cambridge University Press.  ISBN 978-1-107-02185-3.  12.  s 254 - 280
  • Sjåfjell, Beate (2012). Regulating Companies as If the World Matters: Reflections from the Ongoing Sustainable Companies Project . Wake Forest Law Review.  ISSN 0043-003X.  47(1), s 113- 134
  • Sjåfjell, Beate (2012). Regulating Companies as if the World Matters: Reflections from the ongoing "Sustainable Companies" project, In Sigurt Vitols & Johannes Heuschmid (ed.),  European company law and the Sustainable Company: a stakeholder approach.  ETUI aisbl.  ISBN 978-2-87452-277-2.  Chapter 13.  s 263 - 285

View all works in Cristin

View all works in Cristin

View all works in Cristin

Published July 31, 2008 11:20 AM - Last modified Jan. 17, 2017 8:42 AM

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