IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v109y2012i4p553-567.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Emerging Technologies and Ethics: A Race-to-the-Bottom or the Top?

Author

Listed:
  • Raul Gouvea
  • Jonathan Linton
  • Manuel Montoya
  • Steven Walsh

Abstract

Does national success with an emerging technology require ethical sacrifices? This question is considered through the simultaneous consideration of ethics, investment, and outcomes in the nine jurisdictions that are making the largest investments in nanotechnologies—an important emerging technology. It is found that while ethical environment has no notable effect on pure and applied research, a more positive ethical environment is associated with measures associated with invention and commercialization. In summary, a race-to-the-top supports invention and commercialization of emerging technologies. A critical finding as it suggests that issues such as corruption and regulation could be critical in limiting the extraction of social and economic benefit from emerging technologies (like nanotechnologies). Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Suggested Citation

  • Raul Gouvea & Jonathan Linton & Manuel Montoya & Steven Walsh, 2012. "Emerging Technologies and Ethics: A Race-to-the-Bottom or the Top?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(4), pages 553-567, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:109:y:2012:i:4:p:553-567
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1430-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-012-1430-3
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-012-1430-3?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. Minna Halme & Juha Laurila, 2009. "Philanthropy, Integration or Innovation? Exploring the Financial and Societal Outcomes of Different Types of Corporate Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(3), pages 325-339, February.
    2. John Braithwaite & Peter Drahos, 1999. "Ratcheting Up and Driving Down Global Regulatory Standards," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 42(4), pages 109-114, December.
    3. Sah, Raaj, 2007. "Corruption across countries and regions: Some consequences of local osmosis," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 31(8), pages 2573-2598, August.
    4. Gans, Joshua S. & Stern, Scott, 2003. "The product market and the market for "ideas": commercialization strategies for technology entrepreneurs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 333-350, February.
    5. Daniel L. Millimet, 2003. "Assessing the Empirical Impact of Environmental Federalism," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 711-733, November.
    6. Grupp, Hariolf & Mogee, Mary Ellen, 2004. "Indicators for national science and technology policy: how robust are composite indicators?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(9), pages 1373-1384, November.
    7. Loet Leydesdorff, 2008. "The delineation of nanoscience and nanotechnology in terms of journals and patents: A most recent update," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 76(1), pages 159-167, July.
    8. Chris Groves & Lori Frater & Robert Lee & Elen Stokes, 2011. "Is There Room at the Bottom for CSR? Corporate Social Responsibility and Nanotechnology in the UK," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(4), pages 525-552, July.
    9. Poh Kam Wong & Yuen Ping Ho & Casey K. Chan, 2007. "Internationalization and evolution of application areas of an emerging technology: The case of nanotechnology," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 70(3), pages 715-737, March.
    10. David M. Konisky, 2007. "Regulatory Competition and Environmental Enforcement: Is There a Race to the Bottom?," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 51(4), pages 853-872, October.
    11. Blackburn, Keith & Forgues-Puccio, Gonzalo F., 2009. "Why is corruption less harmful in some countries than in others?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(3), pages 797-810, December.
    12. Wheeler, David, 2001. "Racing to the bottom : foreign investment and air pollution in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2524, The World Bank.
    13. Judge, William Q. & McNatt, D. Brian & Xu, Weichu, 2011. "The antecedents and effects of national corruption: A meta-analysis," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 93-103, January.
    14. Fang Huang & John Rice, 2012. "Firm Networking and Bribery in China: Assessing Some Potential Negative Consequences of Firm Openness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 107(4), pages 533-545, June.
    15. Robert McGee, 2008. "Ethical Aspects of Using Government to Subvert Competition: Antidumping Laws as a Case Study of Rent Seeking Activity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(4), pages 759-771, December.
    16. Kathie Pelletier & Michelle Bligh, 2008. "The Aftermath of Organizational Corruption: Employee Attributions and Emotional Reactions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 80(4), pages 823-844, July.
    17. Craig Pearce & Charles Manz, 2011. "Leadership Centrality and Corporate Social Ir-Responsibility (CSIR): The Potential Ameliorating Effects of Self and Shared Leadership on CSIR," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 102(4), pages 563-579, September.
    18. Stephan J Goetz & Mark D Partridge & Dan S Rickman & Shibalee Majumdar, 2011. "Sharing the Gains of Local Economic Growth: Race-to-the-Top versus Race-to-the-Bottom Economic Development," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 29(3), pages 428-456, June.
    19. Goel, Rajeev K. & Nelson, Michael A., 2010. "Causes of corruption: History, geography and government," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 433-447, July.
    20. Yongqiang Gao, 2011. "Government Intervention, Perceived Benefit, and Bribery of Firms in Transitional China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(2), pages 175-184, December.
    21. Baldwin, Richard E. & Krugman, Paul, 2004. "Agglomeration, integration and tax harmonisation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 1-23, February.
    22. Muller, Adrian, 2007. "How to make the clean development mechanism sustainable--The potential of rent extraction," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 3203-3212, June.
    23. Palmberg, Christopher & Pajarinen, Mika & Nikulainen, Tuomo, 2007. "Transferring Science-based Technologies to Industry - Does Nanotechnology Make a Difference?," Discussion Papers 1064, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    24. Vincent Mangematin & Steve Walsh, 2012. "The Future Of Nanotechnologies," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-00658034, HAL.
    25. Runtian Jing & John L. Graham, 2008. "Values Versus Regulations: How Culture Plays Its Role," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 80(4), pages 791-806, July.
    26. Qerim Qerimi & Bruno S. Sergi, 2012. "The effects of economic freedom on institutional performance in the Western Balkans countries," International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 7(1), pages 18-36.
    27. Jong†Hag Choi & Rajib K. Doogar & Ananda R. Ganguly, 2004. "The Riskiness of Large Audit Firm Client Portfolios and Changes in Audit Liability Regimes: Evidence from the U.S. Audit Market," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(4), pages 747-785, December.
    28. Danielle Warren & William Laufer, 2009. "Are Corruption Indices a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy? A Social Labeling Perspective of Corruption," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(4), pages 841-849, October.
    29. Dennis Cooley, 2009. "Understanding Social Welfare Capitalism, Private Property, and the Government’s Duty to Create a Sustainable Environment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(3), pages 351-369, October.
    30. Dietmar Harhoff & Francis Narin & F. M. Scherer & Katrin Vopel, 1999. "Citation Frequency And The Value Of Patented Inventions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(3), pages 511-515, August.
    31. 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.
    32. Vincent Mangematin & Steve Walsh, 2012. "The Future Of Nanotechnologies," Post-Print hal-00658034, HAL.
    33. Michael Strong, 2009. "Peace Through Access to Entrepreneurial Capitalism for All," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(4), pages 529-538, March.
    34. Crepon, Bruno & Duguet, Emmanuel, 1997. "Estimating the Innovation Function from Patent Numbers: GMM on Count Panel Data," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(3), pages 243-263, May-June.
    35. Dunfee, Thomas W., 1991. "Business Ethics and Extant Social Contracts," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 23-51, January.
    36. Angela Hullmann & Martin Meyer, 2003. "Publications and patents in nanotechnology," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 58(3), pages 507-527, November.
    37. Emerson, Patrick M., 2006. "Corruption, competition and democracy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 193-212, October.
    38. Jan K. Brueckner, 1999. "Welfare Reform and the Race to the Bottom: Theory and Evidence," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 66(2), pages 505-525, January.
    39. Heidi Weltzien Høivik & Deepthi Shankar, 2011. "How Can SMEs in a Cluster Respond to Global Demands for Corporate Responsibility?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(2), pages 175-195, June.
    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. Rama Iyer, Subramanian & Sankaran, Harikumar & Walsh, Steve T., 2020. "Influence of Director Expertise on Capital Structure and Cash Holdings in High-Tech Firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    2. Karaulova, Maria & Shackleton, Oliver & Liu, Weishu & Gök, Abdullah & Shapira, Philip, 2017. "Institutional change and innovation system transformation: A tale of two academies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 196-207.
    3. Jonathan Linton & Steven Walsh, 2012. "Introduction to the Field of Nanotechnology Ethics and Policy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(4), pages 547-549, September.
    4. Wei Zhou & Selwyn Piramuthu, 2015. "Information Relevance Model of Customized Privacy for IoT," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 19-30, September.
    5. Haessler, Philipp & Giones, Ferran & Brem, Alexander, 2023. "The who and how of commercializing emerging technologies: A technology-focused review," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    6. Islam, Nazrul & Marinakis, Yorgos & Majadillas, Mary Anne & Fink, Matthias & Walsh, Steven T., 2020. "Here there be dragons, a pre-roadmap construct for IoT service infrastructure," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).

    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. Ivan Bozhikin & Nikolay Dentchev, 2018. "Discovering a Wilderness of Regulatory Mechanisms for Corporate Social Responsibility: Literature Review," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 2, pages 145-174, June.
    2. Elena M. Tur & Evangelos Bourelos & Maureen McKelvey, 2022. "The case of sleeping beauties in nanotechnology: a study of potential breakthrough inventions in emerging technologies," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 69(3), pages 683-708, December.
    3. Eugen Dimant & Guglielmo Tosato, 2018. "Causes And Effects Of Corruption: What Has Past Decade'S Empirical Research Taught Us? A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 335-356, April.
    4. You, Jing & Nie, Huihua, 2017. "Who determines Chinese firms' engagement in corruption: Themselves or neighbors?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 29-46.
    5. Munari, Federico & Toschi, Laura, 2014. "Running ahead in the nanotechnology gold rush. Strategic patenting in emerging technologies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 194-207.
    6. Hongmin Zhang & Jinghua Zhang, 2023. "Pollution Transfer under Intergovernmental Competition: Suppression or Opportunity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-18, October.
    7. Juan Tang & Fangming Qin, 2022. "Analyzing the impact of local government competition on green total factor productivity from the factor market distortion perspective: based on the three stage DEA model," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(12), pages 14298-14326, December.
    8. Norbäck, Pehr-Johan & Persson, Lars & Svensson, Roger, 2017. "Verifying High Quality: Entry for Sale," Working Paper Series 1186, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    9. R. Karpagam & S. Gopalakrishnan & M. Natarajan & B. Ramesh Babu, 2011. "Mapping of nanoscience and nanotechnology research in India: a scientometric analysis, 1990–2009," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 89(2), pages 501-522, November.
    10. Onyeka Osuji, 2011. "Fluidity of Regulation-CSR Nexus: The Multinational Corporate Corruption Example," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 103(1), pages 31-57, September.
    11. Ben Wempe, 2009. "Extant Social Contracts and the Question of Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(4), pages 741-750, October.
    12. Maxwell Chukwudi Udeagha & Marthinus Christoffel Breitenbach, 2023. "The Role of Fiscal Decentralization in Limiting CO2 Emissions in South Africa," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 1-30, September.
    13. Thomas Hemphill & Waheeda Lillevik, 2011. "The Global Economic Ethic Manifesto: Implementing a Moral Values Foundation in the Multinational Enterprise," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(2), pages 213-230, June.
    14. Berthold, Norbert & Neumann, Michael, 2006. "Europas Sozialstaaten im Schatten der Globalisierung," Discussion Paper Series 88, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Chair of Economic Order and Social Policy.
    15. Lalountas, Dionisios A. & Manolas, George A. & Vavouras, Ioannis S., 2011. "Corruption, globalization and development: How are these three phenomena related?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 636-648, July.
    16. Torben M. Andersen, "undated". "International Integration and the Welfare State," Economics Working Papers 2002-2, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    17. Doran, Justin & Ryan, Geraldine, 2019. "Does nanotechnology research generate an innovation premium over other types of research? Evidence from Ireland," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 59(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:109:y:2012:i:4:p:553-567. 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.