Regulation – and interference with capitalism? ‘With the growth in corporate attempts to influence government policy through lobbying, political donations, and even bribery, the issue of business relations with government has increasingly become a key facet of business ethics’ page 492 Lack of ‘global government’ makes ‘policing’ multinational corporations highly problematic

Government Gives business a ‘licence to operate’ ‘Government consists of a variety of institutions and actors at different levels that share a common power to issue laws’. ‘Laws serve as a codification into explicit rules of the social consensus about what a society regards as right and wrong’

Regulation Rules governing business behaviour. Includes non governmental agency like Financial Services Authority. Regulation: ‘the rules that are issued by governmental actors and other delegated authorities to constrain, enable or encourage particular business behaviours. Regulation includes rule definitions, laws, mechanisms processes sanctions and incentives’ p494

Attitudes of business Government demands excessive taxes but companies want improved infrastructure or exclusion of foreign competitors in market Government as representative of citizens’ interests separate from government as actor with interests of their own. Governments define conditions for licence to operate,often restrictive (environmental regulation)

EU commissioner for competition enables business, also through laws and prosecution of illegal practice Anglo American style of laissez faire against hands on approach of European governments. But governments can have interests in running the economy, by subsidy or being dependent on business.

Business influence on government Legitimacy of business influence and accountability of government activities to electorate Lobbying…Party financing…Overlap of posts between business and government ( who regulates the regulator?)…Corruption.. Privatisation of government functions

Privatisation and deregulation Privatisation profits – the problem of a fair price for governments to sell to the private sector. Citizens as consumers. Post Office as social entitlement of citizens. Privatised service might not serve remote areas Natural monopolies railways cannot easily be put to competition due to integration. Hence Public Private Partnerships

Globalisation and business - government relations Weakening nation state National and globalised world co – exist. French person as Sony employee. Japanese person as Greenpeace member. Link to sustainability and climate change. Who will do the regulating…especially of global supply of food and water? Page 536