Abstract
Demands have been growing upon firms to take actions in the interests of workers, the environment, local communities, and others. Firms sometimes have felt they could best discharge such responsibilities by cooperating with other firms. This, however, is suspect from the point of view of a purely economic interpretation of competition law, since interfirm agreements may raise prices and thus lower welfare for consumers. Should competition law remain focused on competition enhancing economic welfare, or be reformed to allow for acts of cooperation that are socially beneficial? To answer this question, the article provides a philosophical reevaluation of the deep-seated view that firms are merely private actors. It argues that demands of political legitimacy should also be addressed at firms cooperating together, and that standard views of democratic accountability should be broadened, introducing a model of delegated, sequential decision making which allows regulatory agencies and parliaments to control interfirm agreements.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 401-425 |
| Number of pages | 25 |
| Journal | Business Ethics Quarterly |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2018 |
Funding
Business Ethics Quarterly Doing Good Together Claassen Rutger a Rutger Claassen is associate professor of ethics and political philosophy at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies of Utrecht University. He obtained his PhD in 2008 from Utrecht University for a dissertation about the moral limits of markets. He was assistant professor at Leiden University and a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Humboldt Universität in Berlin. Part of his research is in the field of socio-economic justice. In his forthcoming monograph, Capabilities in a Just Society: A Theory of Navigational Agency (Cambridge University Press, 2018), he argues for a capability approach centered on a notion of autonomous agency. Another part of his research is in economic ethics: the investigation of the moral value of central economic institutions such as markets, property, and corporations. Currently he is the principal investigator of a research project funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) on Private Property and Political Power in a Liberal-Democratic Society . At Utrecht University, Claassen is the program director of the new BA program in philosophy, politics, and economics starting in September 2018. He also regularly publishes articles and books in Dutch for a broader audience. Gerbrandy Anna a Anna Gerbrandy is professor of competition law at the Europa Institute of Utrecht University School of Law and member of the Renforce research programme. After graduating from law school and before returning to academia, she worked as European law advocate at one of the leading law firms of the Netherlands and as senior law clerk for the competition law chamber of the district court of Rotterdam. In 2009, she defended her cum laude dissertation on Convergence in Competition Law . Gerbrandy’s current research focus lies in the interplay between competition law and public interests, and more fundamentally in the theoretical foundations of competition law in a changing societal context. More recently her research also includes how competition law responds (and ought to respond) to technological developments. Her institutional responsibilities at Utrecht University cover leadership of both research and education and include responsibility for the multidisciplinary masters programme in law and economics. Gerbrandy holds several positions of trust at societal organizations, including a position of honorary judge at the High Court of Tariffs and Trade for appellate competition law cases in the Netherlands. She publishes both in English and in Dutch. a Utrecht University 02 08 2018 10 2018 28 4 401 425 Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2018 2018 Society for Business Ethics
Keywords
- competition law
- democratic accountability
- interfirm agreements
- political legitimacy