The correct answer is C) to limit the possibility of risk from trade.
Governments authorized the creation of joint-stock companies because it limited the possibility of risk from trade.
The join-stock company was authorized for the companies to establish trade in other lands, as was the case of the Virginia-London Company that sponsored the trip of English colonists to the Americas. These people founded the colony of Jamestown, Virginia in 1606, with the simple purpose of generating profits and be rich. We could say that these joint-stock companies were the beginning of what we know today as corporations. Investors provided money at moderated risks and the interests help them to recover the initial investment plus a profit.
The other options of the question were A) to stop shareholders from buying stocks. B) to allow their colonies to make money D) to prevent a positive balance of trade.