IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v68y2006i3p211-228.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Foundations and Applications for Contractualist Business Ethics

Author

Listed:
  • Pursey Heugens
  • J. Oosterhout
  • Muel Kaptein

Abstract

Contractualism is one of the most promising ‘centers of gravity’ in business ethics. In this guest editorial we provide a concise roadmap to the field, sketching contractualism’s historic and disciplinary antecedents, the basic argumentative structure of the contract model, and its boundary conditions. We also sketch two main dimensions along which contributions to the contractualist tradition can be positioned. The first dimension entails positive versus normative theorizing – does a given contribution analyze the world as it is or how it ought to be? The second dimension involves four different levels of analysis that are commonly employed in contractualist business ethics: the nano, micro, meso, and macro levels. We then proceed to position the articles comprising this special issue along these two dimensions. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006

Suggested Citation

  • Pursey Heugens & J. Oosterhout & Muel Kaptein, 2006. "Foundations and Applications for Contractualist Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 68(3), pages 211-228, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:68:y:2006:i:3:p:211-228
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-006-9011-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-006-9011-y
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-006-9011-y?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. Robert Sugden, 2005. "Spontaneous Order," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: The Economics of Rights, Co-operation and Welfare, chapter 1, pages 1-9, Palgrave Macmillan.
    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. Dosi, Giovanni, 1997. "Opportunities, Incentives and the Collective Patterns of Technological Change," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(444), pages 1530-1547, September.
    4. Vanberg, Viktor J. & Congleton, Roger D., 1992. "Rationality, Morality, and Exit," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 86(2), pages 418-431, June.
    5. Sartori, Giovanni, 1970. "Concept Misformation in Comparative Politics," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 64(4), pages 1033-1053, December.
    6. Oliver E. Williamson, 2000. "The New Institutional Economics: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(3), pages 595-613, September.
    7. Weingast, Barry R., 1997. "The Political Foundations of Democracy and the Rule of the Law," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 91(2), pages 245-263, June.
    8. Logsdon, Jeanne M. & Wood, Donna J., 2002. "Business Citizenship: From Domestic to Global Level of Analysis," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 155-187, April.
    9. Herbert A. Simon, 1955. "A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 69(1), pages 99-118.
    10. Cecilia Chaing & Lindsay McSweeney, 2010. "A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice," CPI Journal, Competition Policy International, vol. 6.
    11. Donaldson, Thomas & Dunfee, Thomas W., 1995. "Integrative Social Contracts Theory," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 85-112, April.
    12. Bruno S. Frey & Reto Jegen, 2001. "Motivation Crowding Theory," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(5), pages 589-611, December.
    13. Oliver E. Williamson, 2002. "The Lens of Contract: Private Ordering," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 438-443, May.
    14. repec:cup:cbooks:9780521555838 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Frey, Bruno S, 1997. "A Constitution for Knaves Crowds Out Civic Virtues," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(443), pages 1043-1053, July.
    16. Ken Binmore, 1998. "Game Theory and the Social Contract - Vol. 2: Just Playing," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 2, number 0262024446, December.
    17. Dunfee, Thomas W., 1991. "Business Ethics and Extant Social Contracts," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 23-51, January.
    18. Buchanan, James M, 1975. "A Contractarian Paradigm for Applying Economic Theory," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 65(2), pages 225-230, May.
    19. Ken Binmore, 1994. "Game Theory and the Social Contract, Volume 1: Playing Fair," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262023636, December.
    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. Prabhir Poruthiyil, 2013. "Weaning Business Ethics from Strategic Economism: The Development Ethics Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(4), pages 735-749, September.
    2. Christoph Luetge & Thomas Armbrüster & Julian Müller, 2016. "Order Ethics: Bridging the Gap Between Contractarianism and Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(4), pages 687-697, July.
    3. Andaç T. Arıkan, 2020. "Opportunism is in the Eye of the Beholder: Antecedents of Subjective Opportunism Judgments," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(3), pages 573-589, January.
    4. Kirsten Martin, 2016. "Understanding Privacy Online: Development of a Social Contract Approach to Privacy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(3), pages 551-569, September.
    5. Marian Eabrasu, 2012. "A Moral Pluralist Perspective on Corporate Social Responsibility: From Good to Controversial Practices," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(4), pages 429-439, November.
    6. Dirk Gilbert & Michael Behnam, 2009. "Advancing Integrative Social Contracts Theory: A Habermasian Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(2), pages 215-234, October.
    7. Kirsten Martin, 2012. "Diminished or Just Different? A Factorial Vignette Study of Privacy as a Social Contract," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(4), pages 519-539, December.
    8. Caroline Moraes & Finola Kerrigan & Roisin McCann, 2020. "Positive Shock: A Consumer Ethical Judgement Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(4), pages 735-751, September.
    9. J. Oosterhout & Pursey Heugens, 2009. "Extant Social Contracts in Global Business Regulation: Outline of a Research Agenda," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(4), pages 729-740, October.
    10. Oyku Arkan & Mahak Nagpal & Tobey K. Scharding & Danielle E. Warren, 2023. "Don’t Just Trust Your Gut: The Importance of Normative Deliberation to Ethical Decision-Making at Work," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 186(2), pages 257-277, August.
    11. Paul Neiman, 2013. "A Social Contract for International Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(1), pages 75-90, April.
    12. Gary Burkhardt & Frederic Boy & Daniele Doneddu & Nick Hajli, 2023. "Privacy Behaviour: A Model for Online Informed Consent," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 186(1), pages 237-255, August.
    13. Magali Fia & Lorenzo Sacconi, 2019. "Justice and Corporate Governance: New Insights from Rawlsian Social Contract and Sen’s Capabilities Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(4), pages 937-960, December.

    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. J. van Oosterhout & P.P.M.A.R. Heugens & S.P. Kaptein, 2003. "The Internal Morality of Contacting: Redeeming the Contractualist Endeavor in Business Ethics," Working Papers 03-15, Utrecht School of Economics.
    2. Heugens, P.P.M.A.R. & Kaptein, S.P. & van Oosterhout, J., 2007. "Contracts to Communities: A Processual Model of Organizational Virtue," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2007-023-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    3. P.P.M.A.R. Heugens, 2004. "A Neo-Weberian Theory of the Firm," Working Papers 04-02, Utrecht School of Economics.
    4. Jerry Calton, 2006. "Social Contracting in a Pluralist Process of Moral Sense Making: A Dialogic Twist on the ISCT," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 68(3), pages 329-346, October.
    5. Licht Amir N., 2008. "Social Norms and the Law: Why Peoples Obey the Law," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 4(3), pages 715-750, December.
    6. Sacchetti, Silvia & Tortia, Ermanno, 2012. "The internal and external governance of cooperatives: the effective membership and consistency of value," AICCON Working Papers 111-2012, Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit.
    7. Hendrik Vollmer, 2013. "What kind of game is everyday interaction?," Rationality and Society, , vol. 25(3), pages 370-404, August.
    8. Matyukha, Andriy, 2017. "Business groups in agriculture impact of ownership structures on performance: The case of Russia's agroholdings," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies 254051, Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO).
    9. Williamson, Oliver E., 2010. "Transaction Cost Economics: The Natural Progression," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 215-226.
    10. Darcy W E Allen, 2020. "When Entrepreneurs Meet:The Collective Governance of New Ideas," World Scientific Books, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., number q0269, December.
    11. Magali Fia & Lorenzo Sacconi, 2019. "Justice and Corporate Governance: New Insights from Rawlsian Social Contract and Sen’s Capabilities Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(4), pages 937-960, December.
    12. Timothy Besley, 2020. "State Capacity, Reciprocity, and the Social Contract," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(4), pages 1307-1335, July.
    13. repec:zbw:iamost:254051 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Matyukha, Andriy, 2017. "Business groups in agriculture. Impact of ownership structures on performance: The case of Russia's agroholdings," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 85, number 85.
    15. Duarte N. Leite & Sandra T. Silva & Oscar Afonso, 2014. "Institutions, Economics And The Development Quest," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 491-515, July.
    16. 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.
    17. Vatn, Arild, 2005. "Rationality, institutions and environmental policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 203-217, November.
    18. Petrick, Martin, 2008. "Theoretical and methodological topics in the institutional economics of European agriculture. With applications to farm organisation and rural credit arrangements," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 45, number 92318.
    19. J. Oosterhout & Pursey Heugens, 2009. "Extant Social Contracts in Global Business Regulation: Outline of a Research Agenda," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(4), pages 729-740, October.
    20. Gagliardi, Francesca, 2008. "Institutions and economic change: A critical survey of the new institutional approaches and empirical evidence," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 416-443, February.
    21. Sverre Grepperud, 2007. "Environmental voluntary behaviour and crowding-out effects: regulation or laissez-faire?," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 135-149, April.

    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:68:y:2006:i:3:p:211-228. 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.