Question

Five partners (P1, P2, P3, P4, and P5) jointly own an electric company. The ownership distribution is as follows: P1 owns 26 shares, P2 owns 24 shares, P3 and P4 each own 16 shares, and P5 owns 8 shares. Each share represents one vote. Describe the partnership as a weighted voting system using the standard notation [q: w1, w2, ... wn] under the following conditions:

Decisions in the partnership are made by simple majority.

Answer 1

The weighted voting system for the electric company owned by five partners is [46: 26, 24, 16, 16, 8], where 46 shares are needed for a majority. The partners share in both the responsibilities of running the business and the profits, analogous to shareholders in a public company.

Step-by-step explanation:

To describe the partnership as a weighted voting system, we first need to calculate the total number of shares, which is 26 + 24 + 16 + 16 + 8 = 90 shares. A simple majority would be more than half of this total, so 46 shares are needed for a majority as there are not 45.5 shares, and the number must be whole. Therefore, the standard notation for this weighted voting system would be [46: 26, 24, 16, 16, 8].

In a general partnership, the partners work together in owning and running the business, sharing both the responsibilities and the profits among themselves. This is similar to shareholders in a public company, where the shareholders vote for a board of directors, with each share representing one vote. In the provided example, P1 has the most shares and hence the most votes, potentially giving them significant influence over company decisions alongside P2, given they own more than half the shares combined.