IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v166y2020i1d10.1007_s10551-019-04136-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is It Ethical for For-profit Firms to Practice a Religion? A Rawlsian Thought Experiment

Author

Listed:
  • M. Paula Fitzgerald

    (West Virginia University)

  • Jeff Langenderfer

    (Meredith College)

  • Megan Lynn Fitzgerald

    (Embry-Riddle Aeronautics University)

Abstract

Recent judicial rulings and changes in federal and state legislation have given for-profit corporations a growing list of rights and constitutional protections, including the right to practice religion free from many types of federal or state restriction. In this paper, we highlight the implications of these developments using Rawls’ (A theory of justice, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1971) Theory of Justice to explore the consequences of for-profit corporate religious freedom for consumers and employees. We identify preliminary principles to spark a discussion as to how expanding religious freedom for businesses and fair access to goods and services can coexist in the for-profit marketplace.

Suggested Citation

  • M. Paula Fitzgerald & Jeff Langenderfer & Megan Lynn Fitzgerald, 2020. "Is It Ethical for For-profit Firms to Practice a Religion? A Rawlsian Thought Experiment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 159-174, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:166:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-019-04136-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-019-04136-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-019-04136-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-019-04136-5?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. Geert Demuijnck, 2009. "Non-Discrimination in Human Resources Management as a Moral Obligation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(1), pages 83-101, August.
    2. Finer, L.B. & Zolna, M.R., 2014. "Shifts in intended and unintended pregnancies in the United States, 2001-2008," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(S1), pages 43-48.
    3. Philip Oreopoulos & Marianne Page & Ann Huff Stevens, 2008. "The Intergenerational Effects of Worker Displacement," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(3), pages 455-483, July.
    4. Daniel Sullivan & Till von Wachter, 2009. "Job Displacement and Mortality: An Analysis Using Administrative Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(3), pages 1265-1306.
    5. Henry S. Farber, 2017. "Employment, Hours, and Earnings Consequences of Job Loss: US Evidence from the Displaced Workers Survey," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(S1), pages 235-272.
    6. Stephanie P. Browne & Sara LaLumia, 2014. "The Effects of Contraception on Female Poverty," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 602-622, June.
    7. Lars Lindblom, 2011. "The Structure of a Rawlsian Theory of Just Work," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(4), pages 577-599, July.
    8. Stevens, Ann Huff & Schaller, Jessamyn, 2011. "Short-run effects of parental job loss on children's academic achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 289-299, April.
    9. Schaller, Jessamyn & Stevens, Ann Huff, 2015. "Short-run effects of job loss on health conditions, health insurance, and health care utilization," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 190-203.
    10. Blanc, Sandrine & Al-Amoudi, Ismael, 2013. "Corporate Institutions in a Weakened Welfare State: A Rawlsian Perspective," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(4), pages 497-525, October.
    11. Vladislav Valentinov, 2017. "The Rawlsian Critique of Utilitarianism: A Luhmannian Interpretation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 25-35, 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. Di Maio, Michele & Nisticò, Roberto, 2019. "The effect of parental job loss on child school dropout: Evidence from the Occupied Palestinian Territories," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    2. Mörk, Eva & Sjögren, Anna & Svaleryd, Helena, 2019. "Consequences of Parental Job Loss on the Family Environment and on Human Capital Formation: Evidence from Plant Closures," IZA Discussion Papers 12559, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Mörk, Eva & Sjögren, Anna & Svaleryd, Helena, 2020. "Consequences of parental job loss on the family environment and on human capital formation-Evidence from workplace closures," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    4. Michael W. L. Elsby & Bart Hobijn & Aysegul Sahin, 2010. "The Labor Market in the Great Recession," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 41(1 (Spring), pages 1-69.
    5. Steven J. Davis & Till Von Wachter, 2011. "Recessions and the Costs of Job Loss," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 42(2 (Fall)), pages 1-72.
    6. Juliane Hennecke & Astrid Pape, 2022. "Suddenly a stay-at-home dad? Short- and long-term consequences of fathers’ job loss on time investment in the household," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 579-607, June.
    7. Thomas C. Buchmueller & Helen Levy & Robert G. Valletta, 2021. "Medicaid Expansion and the Unemployed," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(S2), pages 575-617.
    8. S. Filiz, 2016. "Mothers’ Involuntary Job Loss and Children’s Academic Achievement," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 98-127, March.
    9. Lindgren, Petter Y. & Presterud, Ane Ofstad, 2021. "Expanding the Norwegian Armed Forces in the Time of Corona: Benefit-Cost Analysis in the Context of High Unemployment Rate," MPRA Paper 106405, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Jessamyn Schaller & Mariana Zerpa, 2019. "Short-Run Effects of Parental Job Loss on Child Health," American Journal of Health Economics, MIT Press, vol. 5(1), pages 8-41, Winter.
    11. Martti Kaila & Emily Nix & Krista Riukula, 2021. "Disparate Impacts of Job Loss by Parental Income and Implications for Intergenerational Mobility," Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Working Papers 53, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    12. Lindo, Jason M., 2011. "Parental job loss and infant health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 869-879.
    13. Been, J.; & Suari-Andreu, E.; & Knoef, M.;, 2022. "The short-run effects of unexpected job loss on health," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 22/21, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    14. Liu, Hong & Zhao, Zhong, 2014. "Parental job loss and children's health: Ten years after the massive layoff of the SOEs' workers in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 303-319.
    15. Steven J. Davis & Till Von Wachter, 2011. "Recessions and the Costs of Job Loss," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 42(2 (Fall)), pages 1-72.
    16. Mörk, Eva & Sjögren, Anna & Svaleryd, Helena, 2019. "Parental job loss and child human capital in the short and long run," Working Paper Series 2019:3, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    17. Duque, Valentina & Schmitz, Lauren L., 2020. "The Influence of Early-life Economic Shocks on Long-term Outcomes: Evidence from the U.S. Great Depression," Working Papers 2020-11, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    18. Elizabeth M. Caucutt & Lance Lochner & Youngmin Park, 2017. "Correlation, Consumption, Confusion, or Constraints: Why Do Poor Children Perform so Poorly?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 119(1), pages 102-147, January.
    19. Lídia Farré & Francesco Fasani & Hannes Mueller, 2018. "Feeling useless: the effect of unemployment on mental health in the Great Recession," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-34, December.
    20. Bíró, Anikó & Elek, Péter, 2020. "Job loss, disability insurance and health expenditure," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).

    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:166:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-019-04136-5. 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.