[ti:Palestinians Apply to UN; US Links Pakistan to Attacks]
[ar:Barbara Klein]
[al:IN THE NEWS]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English 
[00:02.60]Economics Report.
[00:04.39]Businesses are structured 
[00:06.84]in different ways 
[00:08.29]to meet different needs.
[00:10.58]The simplest form of business 
[00:13.02]is called an individual 
[00:15.27]or sole proprietorship. 
[00:18.01]The proprietor owns all 
[00:20.70]of the property of the business 
[00:22.39]and is responsible for everything.
[00:25.48]For legal purposes, 
[00:28.22]with this kind of business, 
[00:30.07]the owner and the company 
[00:32.26]are the same. 
[00:33.65]This means the proprietor 
[00:36.68]gets to keep all of the profits 
[00:38.78]of the business, 
[00:39.83]but must also pay any debts.
[00:43.56]Another kind of business 
[00:46.86]is the partnership. 
[00:48.35]Two or more people 
[00:50.54]go into business together. 
[00:52.38]An agreement is usually needed 
[00:55.96]to decide how much of
[00:57.71]the partnership each person controls.
[01:00.69]One kind of partnership is called 
[01:05.42]a limited liability partnership. 
[01:08.65]These have full partners 
[01:10.94]and limited partners. 
[01:13.23]Limited partners may not share 
[01:16.62]as much in the profits, 
[01:18.11]but they also have less 
[01:20.55]responsibility for the business.
[01:23.34]Doctors, lawyers and accountants 
[01:26.52]often form partnerships 
[01:28.61]to share their risks and profits. 
[01:31.25]A husband and wife can form 
[01:34.34]a business partnership together.
[01:36.63]Partnerships exist only for 
[01:40.41]as long as the owners remain alive. 
[01:42.70]The same is true of 
[01:45.59]individual proprietorships.
[01:47.98]Corporations are designed 
[01:51.81]to have an unlimited lifetime. 
[01:54.30]A corporation is the most complex 
[01:57.47]kind of business organization.
[02:00.51]Corporations can sell stock 
[02:03.79]as a way to raise money. 
[02:06.03]Stock represents shares 
[02:09.18]of ownership in a company. 
[02:11.62]Investors who buy stock 
[02:14.69]can trade their shares 
[02:16.45]or keep them as long 
[02:18.24]as the company is in business.
[02:21.02]A company might use some 
[02:24.37]of its earnings to pay dividends 
[02:26.76]as a reward to shareholders. 
[02:29.59]Or the company might 
[02:32.18]reinvest the money 
[02:33.67]back into the business.
[02:35.37]If shares lose value, 
[02:38.40]investors can lose 
[02:40.75]all of the money they 
[02:42.30]paid for their stock. 
[02:44.14]But shareholders are not responsible 
[02:47.53]for the debts of the corporation.
[02:50.37]A corporation is recognized 
[02:52.90]as an entity 
[02:54.05]-- its own legal being, 
[02:56.35]separate from its owners.
[02:58.49]A board of directors 
[03:00.98]controls corporate policies. 
[03:03.26]The directors appoint 
[03:05.85]top company officers. 
[03:07.59]The directors might 
[03:09.98]or might not hold shares 
[03:11.77]in the corporation.
[03:13.47]Corporations can have 
[03:16.55]a few major shareholders. 
[03:18.69]Or ownership can be spread 
[03:21.78]among the general public.
[03:23.52]But not all corporations 
[03:26.26]are traditional businesses 
[03:28.05]that sell stock. 
[03:29.94]Some nonprofit groups 
[03:32.53]are also organized as corporations.
[03:36.36]And that's the VOA Special English 
[03:39.74]Economics Report, 
[03:41.64]written by Mario Ritter.