By Jonathan Storper (November 1, 2017, 4:53 PM EDT) -- Benefit corporation legislation created a new kind of corporation that is required to pursue a social and environmental mission in addition to creating economic benefits for its shareholders. California pioneered the model benefit corporation legislation with its passage in 2011, and Delaware passed its own form of benefit corporation legislation in 2013. A benefit corporation differs from traditional corporations in its purpose, which includes a public purpose in addition to making profit, along with accountability and transparency requirements. Every benefit corporation must include a purpose statement in its articles to provide a general public benefit. However, specific requirements for assessing and reporting on pursuing the purpose vary from state to state....