Corporate Responsibility for Wealth Creation and Human Rights

Georges Enderle

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781108830805
• eBook ISBN: 9781108911672
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business Ethics
• Index: Business

Georges Enderle proposes a radically new understanding of corporate responsibility in the global and pluralistic context. This book introduces a framework that integrates the ideas of wealth creation and human rights, which is illustrated by multiple corporate examples, and provides a sharp critique of the maximizing shareholder value ideology. By defining the purpose of business enterprises as creating wealth in a comprehensive sense, encompassing natural, economic, human and social capital while respecting human rights, Enderle draws attention to the fundamental importance of public wealth, without which private wealth cannot be created. This framework further identifies the limitations of the market institution and self-regarding motivations by demonstrating that the creation of public wealth requires collective actors and other-regarding motivations. In line with the UN's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, this book provides clear ethical guidance for businesses around the world and a strong voice against human right violations, especially in repressive and authoritarian regimes and populist and discriminatory environments.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Reviews
• Half-title
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures, Tables and Boxes
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction and Overview
• 2 The Context of Globalization, Sustainability and Financialization
• Part I Wealth Creation: The Purpose of Business and the Economy
• Part II Human Rights as Public Goods in Wealth Creation
• Part III Implications of Wealth Creation and Human Rights for Corporate Responsibility
• Epilogue
• Bibliography
• Index of Names
• Index of Subjects