IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v142y2017i1d10.1007_s10551-015-2736-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Beyond Coercion: Moral Assessment in the Labour Market

Author

Listed:
  • Dan Munter

    (Royal Institute of Technology (KTH))

  • Lars Lindblom

    (Umeå University)

Abstract

Some libertarians argue that informed consent alone makes transactions in the labour market morally justified. In contrast, some of their critics claim that such an act of consent is no guarantee against coercion. To know whether agreements are voluntary, we need to assess the quality of the offers or the prevailing background conditions. ISCT theorists argue that it is imperative to take social norms into account when evaluating the labour market. We present a novel framework for moral assessment in the labour market, which takes consent, background conditions and norms into account, but which mainly focuses on the offers and demands made. Consent renders a transaction legitimate in the same way we regard a fair election legitimate even if we object to its outcome. For offers to be substantially justified, exploitation must be avoided and offers must give expression to the value of community. Only then they are morally justified.

Suggested Citation

  • Dan Munter & Lars Lindblom, 2017. "Beyond Coercion: Moral Assessment in the Labour Market," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 59-70, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:142:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-015-2736-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-015-2736-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-015-2736-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-015-2736-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Radin, Tara J. & Werhane, Patricia H., 2003. "Employment-at-Will, Employee Rights, and Future Directions for Employment," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(2), pages 113-130, April.
    2. Van Buren, Harry J., 2001. "If Fairness is the Problem, Is Consent the Solution? Integrating ISCT and Stakeholder Theory," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(3), pages 481-499, July.
    3. Kaushik Basu, 2007. "Coercion, contract and the limits of the market," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 29(4), pages 559-579, December.
    4. Lars Lindblom, 2011. "The Structure of a Rawlsian Theory of Just Work," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(4), pages 577-599, July.
    5. Bruni, Luigino & Sugden, Robert, 2008. "Fraternity: Why The Market Need Not Be A Morally Free Zone," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(1), pages 35-64, March.
    6. Peter, Fabienne, 2004. "Choice, Consent, And The Legitimacy Of Market Transactions," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 1-18, April.
    7. Donaldson, Thomas & Dunfee, Thomas W., 1995. "Integrative Social Contracts Theory," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 85-112, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Samuel Mansell, 2013. "Shareholder Theory and Kant’s ‘Duty of Beneficence’," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(3), pages 583-599, October.
    2. Harry Buren & Michelle Greenwood, 2008. "Enhancing Employee Voice: Are Voluntary Employer–Employee Partnerships Enough?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(1), pages 209-221, August.
    3. Duane Windsor, 2018. "Dynamics for Integrative Social Contracts Theory: Norm Evolution and Individual Mobility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 83-95, April.
    4. Jocelyn D. Evans & Elise Perrault & Timothy A. Jones, 2017. "Managers’ Moral Obligation of Fairness to (All) Shareholders: Does Information Asymmetry Benefit Privileged Investors at Other Shareholders’ Expense?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 81-96, January.
    5. Johannes Jahn & Rolf Brühl, 2018. "How Friedman’s View on Individual Freedom Relates to Stakeholder Theory and Social Contract Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(1), pages 41-52, November.
    6. Thomas Dunfee, 2006. "A Critical Perspective of Integrative Social Contracts Theory: Recurring Criticisms and Next Generation Research Topics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 68(3), pages 303-328, October.
    7. Euclid Tsakalotos, 2007. "Competitive Equilibrium and the Social Ethos: Understanding the Inegalitarian Dynamics of Liberal Market Economies," Politics & Society, , vol. 35(3), pages 427-446, September.
    8. Anthony J. Daboub & Jerry M. Calton, 2002. "Stakeholder Learning Dialogues: How to Preserve Ethical Responsibility in Networks," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 85-98, November.
    9. Victor Oltra & Jaime Bonache & Chris Brewster, 2013. "A New Framework for Understanding Inequalities Between Expatriates and Host Country Nationals," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(2), pages 291-310, June.
    10. Gordon Liu & Catherine Liston-Heyes & Wai-Wai Ko, 2010. "Employee Participation in Cause-Related Marketing Strategies: A Study of Management Perceptions from British Consumer Service Industries," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 92(2), pages 195-210, March.
    11. Guilhem Lecouteux, 2018. "What does “we” want? Team Reasoning, Game Theory, and Unselfish Behaviours," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 128(3), pages 311-332.
    12. Lorenzo Sacconi, 2007. "A Social Contract Account for CSR as an Extended Model of Corporate Governance (II): Compliance, Reputation and Reciprocity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 75(1), pages 77-96, September.
    13. Caleb Bernacchio, 2021. "Virtue Beyond Contract: A MacIntyrean Approach to Employee Rights," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 171(2), pages 227-240, June.
    14. Michael A. Clemens, 2018. "Testing for Repugnance in Economic Transactions: Evidence from Guest Work in the Gulf," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(S1), pages 5-44.
    15. Paolo Santori, 2019. "The foundation of the right of property: Rosmini as Genovesi’s interpreter," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 66(4), pages 353-367, December.
    16. Robert Sugden, 2011. "Mutual advantage, conventions and team reasoning," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 58(1), pages 9-20, March.
    17. Sven Horak, 2018. "Join In or Opt Out? A Normative–Ethical Analysis of Affective Ties and Networks in South Korea," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 207-220, April.
    18. Zamagni, Stefano, 2021. "The quest for an axiological reorientation of economic science," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 391-401.
    19. Yafet Yosafet Wilben Rissy, 2021. "The stakeholder model: its relevance, concept, and application in the Indonesian banking sector," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(3), pages 219-231, September.
    20. Gaël Giraud & Cécile Renouard, 2011. "In search of an alternative to shareholder value maximization," Post-Print hal-00609153, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:142:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-015-2736-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.