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The political role of the business firm: An ordonomic concept of corporate citizenship developed in comparison with the Aristoleian idea of individual citizenship

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  • Pies, Ingo
  • Beckmann, Markus
  • Hielscher, Stefan

Abstract

This is an essay in conceptual clarification: by way of comparison with the Aristotelian idea of individual citizenship for the antique polis, this article develops an ordonomic concept of “corporate citizenship” that offers two insights for academic scholarship. First, we clarify what is meant by a company's political role. Companies take such a role if they do not confine themselves to acting as bourgeois within the basic business game of producing goods and services, but also participate as citoyen in the meta games of political rule-setting processes and rule-finding discourses. Second, we show that the political dimension of corporate citizenship need not weaken or compromise a company's role as an economic actor. Rather, in light of deficient institutional rules, companies need to take a political role if they wish to pursue their self-perfection as economic agents for value creation. This means that in processes of new governance the economic and political roles of the firm need not contradict each other but can follow the same win-win logic of individual self-perfection through cooperative social interactions.

Suggested Citation

  • Pies, Ingo & Beckmann, Markus & Hielscher, Stefan, 2012. "The political role of the business firm: An ordonomic concept of corporate citizenship developed in comparison with the Aristoleian idea of individual citizenship," Discussion Papers 2012-1, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Chair of Economic Ethics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:mlucee:20121
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