Doing Good Together: Competition Law and the Political Legitimacy of Interfirm Cooperation

Claassen, Rutger; Gerbrandy, Anna

doi:10.1017/beq.2018.2

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Whether these activities are irresponsible are up for debate, as there is no consensus on the role corporations allowed to play in politics or in the pursuit of science (cf. Claassen and Gerbrandy 2018;Hussain and Moriarty 2018;Wettstein and Baur 2016;). If we want a full and inclusive answer to the question what kind of behaviour of food firms in regard to public health is morally (un)acceptable, the food industry's impact on politics and scientific research should be assessed.…”

Section: Rethinking the Food Industry's Involvement In Politics And Scientific Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food Vendor Beware! On Ordinary Morality and Unhealthy Marketing

2019

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Food and beverage firms are frequently criticised for their impact on the spread of non-communicable diseases like obesity and diabetes type 2. In this article we explore under what conditions the sales and marketing of unhealthy food and beverage products is irresponsible. Starting from the notion of ordinary morality we argue that firms have a duty to respect people’s autonomy and adhere to the principle of non-maleficence in both market and non-market environments. We show how these considerations are relevant when thinking about immoral behaviour in the food and beverage industry, and identify under what conditions sales and marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to adults and children is wrong. Based on this analysis we argue that firms should take into account: whether consumers are able to identify manipulative marketing, the degree of manipulation, as well as the negative impact a product has on health. We hold that for the food industry to act responsible it should re-evaluate the marketing of unhealthy products to adults and refrain from marketing to children. We conclude this study by making several recommendations on how the food industry should interact with consumers and highlight what changes need to be made in corporate practice.

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Section: Rethinking the Food Industry's Involvement In Politics And Scientific Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food Vendor Beware! On Ordinary Morality and Unhealthy Marketing

2019

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“…Though this question seems somewhat outside the scope of this chapter we have argued that private firms can indeed justify their 'political power' in terms of legitimacy. 53 A second question would focus on the role of the competition authorities, charged with enforcement of the (European) competition rules. Whilst we have discussed the role of civil society in influencing the corporate agenda of firms, the question here is on which grounds these authorities can legitimately decide upon the weight of the different interests as stake.…”

Section: Legitimacy Of Rbc As An Exercise Of Political Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Competition law and democratic empowerment in the European Union

Gerbrandy¹,

Fransen²

2018

Democratic Empowerment in the European Union

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This chapter discusses the influence of EU competition law on the process of democratic empowerment in the EU. In particular, it will examine how the current approach to the application of competition rules in the EU has had a restrictive influence on the ability for citizens to participate in setting public policy goals at various levels of society. This 'competition law problem' has its root in the restriction on 'Responsible Business Conduct' (RBC) initiatives between private firms.Increasingly private firms are facing pressure to address today's social and environmental challenges. Increased globalisation and recognition of the negative effects of the global market economy, as well as caution about the increasing wealth and power of corporations, has brought about change in society's expectations of and interactions with firms. 2 This affects individual national, multinational and transnational corporations as well as industries as a whole. In response to this, private firms have increasingly sought to cooperate in order to tackle these complex issues. For example, corporations have in recent years played a role in environmental protection, the protection of animal welfare and combatting low wages throughout the world. Through inter-firm cooperation, firms have thus demonstrated greater societal awareness and responsiveness. At the same time, these firms have arguably taken on new quasi-governmental responsibilities. Some have even gone so far as to argue that these firms have become 'political actors'. 3 But it is clearly not only firms who play a role here: civil society organisations and EU citizens are also involved in this shift towards more social and environmental awareness and for pushing firms to accept more responsibility for combatting global challenges. And of course, governments are part of this process as well: either as regulator and legislator, or as facilitator for, or even participant in, these market initiatives.1 This chapter draws on the work of an earlier publication by the authors, titled 'Non-competition interests are no competition for 'Market Europe': does EU competition law hamper the exercise of political rights?' as part of the bEUcitizen project. The authors would also like to thank Rebecca Larsen for her excellent research assistance.

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“…One way around this is through the intersubjective nature of competition agreements, where market actors make up for the lack of governmental intervention by constraining themselves through "treaty," as discussed byClaassen and Gerbrandy (2018). This seems right, but of course, we then need some way of distinguishing between socially beneficial agreements and efficiency-reducing collusion.…”

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confidence: 99%

Prioritizing Democracy: A Commentary on Smith’s Presidential Address to the Society for Business Ethics

Singer

Ron

2019

Bus. Ethics Q.

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ABSTRACT:In his 2018 presidential address to the Society of Business Ethics, Jeffery Smith claimed that political approaches to business ethics must be attentive to both the distinctive nature of commercial activity and, at the same time, the degree to which such commercial activity is structured by political decisions and choices. In what we take to be a friendly extension of the argument, we claim that Smith does not go far enough with this insight. Smith’s political approach to business ethics focuses solely on the outcomes of political choices. But if we think of politics in terms of processes—as in, ongoing disagreement and contest—and not merely a series of legal, administrative, or institutional outcomes, a different view of business ethics emerges. In particular, we argue that such an emphasis points us toward seeing business actors as having a normative duty to preserve the integrity and functioning of democracy.

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Doing Good Together: Competition Law and the Political Legitimacy of Interfirm Cooperation

Cited by 12 publications

References 55 publications

Food Vendor Beware! On Ordinary Morality and Unhealthy Marketing

Food Vendor Beware! On Ordinary Morality and Unhealthy Marketing

Competition law and democratic empowerment in the European Union

Prioritizing Democracy: A Commentary on Smith’s Presidential Address to the Society for Business Ethics

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