[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# Corporate Crime and Conceptions of a Corporate Person

Horder, 2026, Criminal Law and Philosophy — Law & Jurisprudence

Patterns: [Distinctions](https://dsrpevidence.org/pattern/distinctions), [Systems](https://dsrpevidence.org/pattern/systems), [Perspectives](https://dsrpevidence.org/pattern/perspectives)

## In short

Corporate criminal liability doctrine hinges on which whole-versus-parts model of the corporation is adopted -- an aggregate of individuals versus an emergent legal entity -- with the resulting distinctions in fault only visible once a particular theoretical vantage point on 'the corporation' is chosen.

## What they found (results)

Horder distinguishes four competing conceptions of the corporation (abstract entity, entity led by supreme executive authority, 'real' entity, concrete legal entity) and argues a size- and structure-calibrated 'failure to prevent' liability standard better matches how individual wrongdoing aggregates into corporate fault than current doctrine.

These researchers were not testing DSRP. The finding is theirs; the correspondence to DSRP is drawn by this site.

[Source](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11572-026-09809-7)