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The Contained-Rivalry Requirement and a ‘Triple Feature’ Program for Business Ethics

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  • Dominic Martin

Abstract

This paper proposes a description of the moral obligations of economic agents. It will show that a threefold division should be adopted to distinguish moral obligations applying to their interactions in the market, obligations applying to their interactions inside business firms and obligations applying to their interactions with agents outside the market. Competition might be permissible in the first case since markets are special patterns of social interactions (called adversarial schemes). They produce their benefits when agents try to satisfy exclusive preferences at the expense of others. However, moral obligations inside the firm and moral obligations outside the market are of a different nature. This argument will be developed in the two first parts of this paper. In the third part, it will outline the relevant strengths of that account in relation with two popular views of economic agents’ moral obligations: the shareholder primacy view and the stakeholder theory. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

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  • Dominic Martin, 2013. "The Contained-Rivalry Requirement and a ‘Triple Feature’ Program for Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(1), pages 167-182, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:115:y:2013:i:1:p:167-182
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1369-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. J. Kaler, 2009. "An Optimally Viable Version of Stakeholder Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 86(3), pages 297-312, May.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Jeffery Smith, 2018. "Efficiency and Ethically Responsible Management," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(3), pages 603-618, July.
    4. Jeffrey Moriarty, 2020. "On the Origin, Content, and Relevance of the Market Failures Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 113-124, August.

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