IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v171y2021i1d10.1007_s10551-020-04468-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Ethics of Entrepreneurial Philanthropy

Author

Listed:
  • Charles Harvey

    (Newcastle University)

  • Jillian Gordon

    (University of Glasgow)

  • Mairi Maclean

    (University of Bath)

Abstract

A salient if under researched feature of the new age of global inequalities is the rise to prominence of entrepreneurial philanthropy, the pursuit of transformational social goals through philanthropic investment in projects animated by entrepreneurial principles. Super-wealthy entrepreneurs in this way extend their suzerainty from the domain of the economic to the domains of the social and political. We explore the ethics and ethical implications of entrepreneurial philanthropy through systematic comparison with what we call customary philanthropy, which preferences support for established institutions and social practices. We analyse the ethical statements made at interview by 24 elite UK philanthropists, 12 customary and 12 entrepreneurial, to reveal the co-existence of two ethically charged narratives of elite philanthropic motivations, each instrumental in maintaining the established socio-economic order. We conclude that entrepreneurial philanthropy, as an ostensibly efficacious instrument of social justice, is ethically flawed by its unremitting impulse toward ideological purity.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles Harvey & Jillian Gordon & Mairi Maclean, 2021. "The Ethics of Entrepreneurial Philanthropy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 171(1), pages 33-49, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:171:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-020-04468-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-020-04468-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-020-04468-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-020-04468-7?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. François Bourguignon, 2015. "The Globalization of Inequality," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10433.
    2. Stephen J. Ball, 2008. "New Philanthropy, New Networks and New Governance in Education," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 56(4), pages 747-765, December.
    3. Charles Harvey & Mairi Maclean & Jillian Gordon & Eleanor Shaw, 2011. "Andrew Carnegie and the foundations of contemporary entrepreneurial philanthropy," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(3), pages 425-450.
    4. Bruno Amable, 2011. "Morals and politics in the ideology of neo-liberalism," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-00553001, HAL.
    5. Deirdre Shaw & Robert McMaster & Terry Newholm, 2016. "Care and Commitment in Ethical Consumption: An Exploration of the ‘Attitude–Behaviour Gap’," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 251-265, June.
    6. Daniel Dorling & Tracy Shildrick, 2011. "Injustice: Why Social Inequality Persists," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 16(4), pages 223-224, December.
    7. DAVIS, JOHN B. & McMASTER, ROBERT, 2015. "Situating care in mainstream health economics: an ethical dilemma?," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(4), pages 749-767, December.
    8. Stephen J. Ball, 2008. "New Philanthropy, New Networks and New Governance in Education," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 56, pages 747-765, December.
    9. Jun Su & Jia He, 2010. "Does Giving Lead to Getting? Evidence from Chinese Private Enterprises," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 73-90, April.
    10. Arthur Gautier & Anne-Claire Pache, 2015. "Research on Corporate Philanthropy: A Review and Assessment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(3), pages 343-369, February.
    11. Bernard Forgues, 2012. "Sampling on the dependent variable is not always that bad : Quantitative case-control designs for strategic organization research," Post-Print hal-02312914, HAL.
    12. Atkinson, Anthony B., 2015. "Inequality: what can be done?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101810, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Claudia Eger & Graham Miller & Caroline Scarles, 2019. "Corporate Philanthropy Through the Lens of Ethical Subjectivity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 141-153, April.
    14. Harvey, Charles & Maclean, Mairi & Suddaby, Roy, 2019. "Historical Perspectives on Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 93(3), pages 443-471, October.
    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. Valeria Giacomin & Geoffrey Jones, 2022. "Drivers of Philanthropic Foundations in Emerging Markets: Family, Values and Spirituality," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 263-282, September.
    2. Roy Suddaby & Trevor Israelsen & Francois Bastien & Rohny Saylors & Diego Coraiola, 2023. "Rhetorical History as Institutional Work," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 242-278, January.
    3. Mohammad Daradkeh, 2023. "Navigating the Complexity of Entrepreneurial Ethics: A Systematic Review and Future Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-30, July.
    4. Muhammad Aftab Alam & David Rooney & Erik Lundmark & Murray Taylor, 2023. "The Ethics of Sharing: Does Generosity Erode the Competitive Advantage of an Ecosystem Firm?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 187(4), pages 821-839, November.

    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. Samuel Adomako & Mai Dong Tran, 2024. "Beyond profits: The linkages between local embeddedness, social legitimacy, and corporate philanthropy in the mining industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 555-565, January.
    2. Hanwen Chen & Siyi Liu & Xin Liu & Daoguang Yang, 2022. "Adversity Tries Friends: A Multilevel Analysis of Corporate Philanthropic Response to the Local Spread of COVID-19 in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(3), pages 585-612, May.
    3. Arun Kumar, 2022. "Philanthropy and the Making of a New Moral Order: A History of Developing Community," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(4), pages 729-741, May.
    4. Jun Chen & Wang Dong & Jamie Tong & Feida Zhang, 2018. "Corporate Philanthropy and Tunneling: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 135-157, June.
    5. Wei, Jiuchang & Ouyang, Zhe & Chen, Haipeng (Allan), 2018. "CEO characteristics and corporate philanthropic giving in an emerging market: The case of China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 1-11.
    6. Rory Horner & David Hulme, 2019. "From International to Global Development: New Geographies of 21st Century Development," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 50(2), pages 347-378, March.
    7. Bauer, Johannes M., 2018. "The Internet and income inequality: Socio-economic challenges in a hyperconnected society," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 333-343.
    8. Martina Dal Molin & Cristina Masella, 2016. "From Fragmentation to Comprehensiveness in Network Governance," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 493-508, December.
    9. Burchardt, Tania & Hick, Rod, 2017. "Inequality, advantage and the capability approach," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 84598, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Guillermo Cruces & Gary S. Fields & David Jaume & Mariana Viollaz, 2015. "The growth-employment-poverty nexus in Latin America in the 2000s: Cross-country analysis," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2015-110, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Valentina VASILE & Daniel ŞTEFAN & Călin-Adrian COMES & Elena BUNDUCHI & Anamari-Beatrice ŞTEFAN, 2020. "FDI or Remittances for Sustainable External Financial Inflows. Theoretical Delimitations and Practical Evidence using Granger Causality," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(4), pages 131-153, December.
    12. Amer Ahmed & Maurizio Bussolo & Marcio Cruz & Delfin S. Go & Israel Osorio-Rodarte, 2020. "Global Inequality in a more educated world," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 18(4), pages 585-616, December.
    13. Pompeo Della Posta, 2021. "An analysis of the current backlash of economic globalization in a model with heterogeneous agents," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(1), pages 101-120, February.
    14. Francisco G. Ferreira & Nora Lustig & Daniel Teles, 2015. "Appraising cross-national income inequality databases: An introduction," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 13(4), pages 497-526, December.
    15. Frederik Plewnia & Edeltraud Guenther, 2017. "The benefits of doing good: a meta-analysis of corporate philanthropy business outcomes and its implications for management control," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 347-376, October.
    16. Eliazar, Iddo, 2017. "Investigating equality: The Rényi spectrum," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 481(C), pages 90-118.
    17. Ji, Mianmian & Lv, Wendai, 2022. "Demonstration zones reform and corporate philanthropy: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    18. Pompeo Della Posta, 2021. "The economic and social costs of globalisation: A target zone analysis," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 633-644, March.
    19. Clément Carbonnier, 2023. "Welfare Economics and Neoliberalism: Interpreting the ideal type of perfect competition general equilibrium," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-04062786, HAL.
    20. Trespeuch Léo & Robinot Élisabeth, 2023. "Exploring the Impact of Corporate Philanthropy on Brand Authenticity in the Luxury Industry: Scale Development and Empirical Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-21, August.

    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:171:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-020-04468-7. 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.