IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v188y2023i2d10.1007_s10551-022-05317-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How to Object to the Profit System (and How Not To)

Author

Listed:
  • Gregory J. Robson

    (Iowa State University
    University of Notre Dame (Mendoza College of Business))

Abstract

This article introduces the Normative Representativeness Requirement (NRR) on any moral objection to a decentralized, profit-oriented system of political economy. I develop and defend the NRR and then show why the most important recent critique of the profit system—which I call The Moderate Critique (developed by, for instance, Elizabeth Anderson)—fails to meet the NRR. This article also defends the radical claim that no objection to the profit system itself, rather than just key aspects or salient instances of it, succeeds in meeting the NRR. Critics of the profit system should not seek an alternative to the profit system, but, at most, an alternative within it.

Suggested Citation

  • Gregory J. Robson, 2023. "How to Object to the Profit System (and How Not To)," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(2), pages 205-219, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:188:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-022-05317-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-022-05317-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-022-05317-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-022-05317-5?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. Ciepley, David, 2013. "Beyond Public and Private: Toward a Political Theory of the Corporation," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 107(1), pages 139-158, February.
    2. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    3. Vincent J. Giolito & Robert C. Liden & Dirk Dierendonck & Gordon W. Cheung, 2021. "Servant Leadership Influencing Store-Level Profit: The Mediating Effect of Employee Flourishing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(3), pages 503-524, September.
    4. Martijn Cremers, 2017. "What Corporate Governance Can Learn from Catholic Social Teaching," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(4), pages 711-724, November.
    5. Jason Brennan, 2013. "Is Market Society Intrinsically Repugnant?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(2), pages 271-281, January.
    6. Christof Koch, 2018. "What Is Consciousness?," Nature, Nature, vol. 557(7704), pages 8-12, May.
    7. Gregory Clark, 2007. "Introduction to A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World," Introductory Chapters, in: A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World, Princeton University Press.
    8. Hausman, Daniel M., 2000. "Revealed preference, belief, and game theory," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 99-115, April.
    9. Joanne B. Ciulla, 2019. "Review of Private Government: How Employers Rule Our Lives (and Why We Don’t Talk About It) by Elizabeth Anderson," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 289-292, April.
    10. Brookes Brown, 2019. "Beyond Profit and Politics: Reciprocity and the Role of For-Profit Business," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 239-251, September.
    11. Satz, Debra, 2010. "Why Some Things Should Not Be for Sale: The Moral Limits of Markets," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195311594.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gregory Robson, 2024. "The profit system: how (and why) to deflect the radical critique," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 109-122, March.

    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. Gregory Robson, 2024. "The profit system: how (and why) to deflect the radical critique," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 109-122, March.
    2. David Ciepley, 2019. "Can Corporations Be Held to the Public Interest, or Even to the Law?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(4), pages 1003-1018, February.
    3. Sophie Bacq & Ruth V. Aguilera, 2022. "Stakeholder Governance for Responsible Innovation: A Theory of Value Creation, Appropriation, and Distribution," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 29-60, January.
    4. Johannes Lundberg, 2022. "Agency Theory’s “Truth Regime”: Reading Danish Pension Funds’ Decisions Regarding Shell from the Perspective of Agency Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-15, November.
    5. Kevin Levillain & Blanche Segrestin, 2019. "From primacy to purpose commitment: How emerging profit-with-purpose corporations open new corporate governance avenues," Post-Print hal-02290622, HAL.
    6. Miguel Alzola, 2018. "Decent Work: The Moral Status of Labor in Human Resource Management," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(4), pages 835-853, February.
    7. Ciepley David, 2020. "How America’s Corporations Lost their Public Purpose, and How it Might be (Partially) Restored," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 10(3), pages 1-25, December.
    8. Sikka, Prem & Stittle, John, 2019. "Debunking the myth of shareholder ownership of companies: Some implications for corporate governance and financial reporting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    9. Braun, Benjamin, 2020. "Asset Manager Capitalism as a Corporate Governance Regime," SocArXiv v6gue_v1, Center for Open Science.
    10. Levillain, Kevin & Segrestin, Blanche, 2019. "From primacy to purpose commitment: How emerging profit-with-purpose corporations open new corporate governance avenues," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 637-647.
    11. Veldman, Jeroen, 2019. "Inequality, Inc," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    12. Veldman, Jeroen, 2018. "Inequality, Inc," MPRA Paper 86644, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Mohammed T. Abusharbeh, 2024. "Technology-Profitability Paradox in Banking Sector: Evidence from Palestine," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 14855-14873, September.
    14. Barbara Su, 2023. "Banking practices and borrowing firms’ financial reporting quality: evidence from bank cross-selling," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 201-236, March.
    15. Yeon‐Koo Che & Kathryn E. Spier, 2008. "Strategic judgment proofing," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 39(4), pages 926-948, December.
    16. Ichev, Riste & Valentinčič, Aljoša, 2025. "The effect of impact investing on performance of private firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PA).
    17. Klapper, Leora F. & Love, Inessa, 2004. "Corporate governance, investor protection, and performance in emerging markets," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(5), pages 703-728, November.
    18. Hartarska, Valentina M. & Nadolnyak, Denis A., 2012. "Financing Constraints and Access to Credit in Post Crisis Environment: Evidence from New Farmers in Alabama," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124882, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    19. Hasan, Iftekhar & Lozano-Vivas, Ana, 2002. "Organizational Form and Expense Preference: Spanish Experience," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 135-150, April.
    20. Leonhard K. Lades & Liam Delaney, 2024. "Self-control failures, as judged by themselves," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.

    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:188:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-022-05317-5. 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.