scholarly journals The Role of Political Economy in Determining the Goals of Firm Laws

Author(s):  
Mohammad Reza Pasban ◽  
Seyyed Hadi Farrokhi

The emergence of political schools, especially leftist views, created a closer link between economy on the one hand and political views and schools on the other hand. In fact, prior to the advent of economics-based political schools, the relationship between political schools and economics was not clear, and instead, economic tendencies were mostly stressed by scholars and business organizations. Despite the fact that mercantilism did not last long, and survived for almost only two centuries, it exerted a profound impact on the structure of the western economy. Although the classical school, and mainly Adam Smith, played a role in undermining the idea of mercantilism, it lost its position with the rise of nationalist ideas in the 19th century. In fact, the discriminatory implications and issues of the liberal approach led to the boom of socialism. In the field of political economy, the function of corporate governance has long been of interest to scholars, at the core of which are the two shareholder-based and stakeholder-based views. While the former highlights the interests of the ultimate owners of the company, the latter underscores the interests of the community and all stakeholders as the goal of corporate governance, and both pursue different and sometimes conflicting objectives. The basis of such a difference lies in the discrepancy between individualism and socialism, an influential factor in goal determination of firms.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12(48) (2) ◽  
pp. 5-28
Author(s):  
Stefano Zamagni

The essay pursues a double aim. On the one hand, it offers a comparative analysis of the two main economic paradigms of the Enlightment period, i.e. the political economy one, associated with the name of Adam Smith, and thecivil economy one, associated to the name of Antonio Genovesi. On the other hand, it gives reasons why, in the last quarter of a century, the civil economy paradigm is gaining more and more grounds. The paper ends up with some considerations on the major drawbacks of libertarian individualism in the present epoch.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacek Sójka

Ekonomia i etyka. Inspiracje konfucjańskie [Economics and ethics. Confucian inspirations] edited by W. Banach, M.A. Michalski, J. Sójka, „Człowiek i Społeczeństwo” vol. XLVI: Między Chinami a Zachodem. Pytanie o źródła chińskiego sukcesu gospodarczego [Between China and the West. An inquiry into the sources of the Chinese economic miracle], Poznań 2018, pp. 43–66, Adam Mickiewicz University. Faculty of Social Sciences Press. ISSN 0239-3271.The aim of this article is to assess what kind of possible inspirations for economic thinking one can expect from Confucianism. A direct challenge was issued by the work of Kazimierz Poznański who claims that Confucianism is a source of a new paradigm for economics, the one based on ethics. So the question posed in this paper is, to what extent Confucian economics, as presented by Poznański, can become an alternative view counterposed to the western liberal economics, allegedly devoid of ethical contents. To answer that question one should first analyse the relation between economics and ethics within traditional, western, liberal approach. The author of this article posits that ethical component is present within this approach and, at the same time, Confucian values are not that different as far as the goals of economic life are concerned. What is more, one can find some conceptual affinities between Confucius and Adam Smith.


2022 ◽  
pp. 94-132
Author(s):  
Cristina Raluca Gh. Popescu

The COVID-19 pandemic shock made nations worldwide seek support in different forms of international cooperation, realizing that strength is derived from countries' capacities to unite their forces and act together in times of crisis. Faced with the perspective of the COVID-19 crisis consequences, states have to adapt, focusing on implementation of robust managerial strategies and concentrating attention on ensuring strong financial systems. Given that, on the one hand, in the attempt to provide a healthy life and sustainable development, a balance needs to be established in terms of environmental, social, and corporate governance; and, on the other hand, in the quest to guarantee fair and transparent tax systems, a minimum global tax rate should be implemented. Likewise, in the new economy, the knowledge-based economy, the digitalized economy, business organizations should act in the spirit of sustainability while centering their efforts on efficiency, productivity, profitability, and performance and benefiting from the impressive advantages provided by intangible assets.


2021 ◽  
pp. 116-139
Author(s):  
Marina Yu. Koreneva ◽  
◽  
Ekaterina O. Larionova ◽  

The article is written on the material of the unpublished diaries of Sergei Ivanovich Turgenev (1792–1827) and focuses on two journeys he made in 1811 while studying at the University of Göttingen: to the Harz and to Holland. The former is a special type of student travel that developed in the German “Bursch” environment and had its own stable routes and behavioral “rituals”. The curriculum of the University of Göttingen had a special course on travel; therefore, for university students, hiking in the Harz was part of the unwritten compulsory “program”. The relative proximity of the Harz to Göttingen, its connection with German history, and the beauty of its nature made it an attractive destination for an educational trip that allowed combining the useful with the pleasant. However, the concept “useful”, when applied to the Harz, changed at the turn of the 19th century. The amateur interest in natural history and mineralogy led to a shift in focus from the description of historical monuments to the natural sciences. The Harz began to be considered primarily as a geological phenomenon and a place of mining, which also determined the plans for its exploration. This focus on natural science is evident in the recordings of Sergei Turgenev’s elder brothers, Alexander and Nikolai, who also studied in Göttingen and visited the Harz several years earlier. The described context allows seeing the peculiarities of Sergei Turgenev’s perception of the Harz. He went there solely for pleasure, did not prepare for the journey in any way, and wrote down his impressions only to satisfy Alexander Turgenev’s request of a report on the trip from his younger brother. For this purpose, Sergei “literated” some of his notes based on his travel diary. Lacking pragmatic information, he tried to compensate for it with “sensitive” reasoning and poetic quotations. The somewhat artificial literary character of the text is balanced by the vivid details and sketches of momentary everyday situations. Sergei Turgenev did not post-process his travel notes on the trip to Holland. The notes show that, within just a few months, Sergei Turgenev’s perception of the European space changed. The entertaining “Bursch” transformed, according to his own words, into an “inquisitive” traveler from Stern’s “classification”. He looks at the Dutch, who then recently became new subjects of the French Empire; watches their preparations for Napoleon’s arrival; is surprised at the degree of their loyalty to the foreign ruler; and ponders the question of how much this loyalty depends on citizens’ well-being. The trip to Holland leads Sergei Turgenev, upon his return to Göttingen, to reading Adam Smith, on the one hand; on the other hand, it gives a start to the reasoning, which goes through all his later diaries and letters, on constitutionalism, on the nature of revolutions, and on the need for modernization reforms in Russia.


Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith are two of the foremost thinkers of the European Enlightenment, thinkers who made seminal contributions to moral and political philosophy and who shaped some of the key concepts of modern political economy. Among Smith’s first published works was a letter to the Edinburgh Review where he discusses Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origin of Inequality. Smith continued to engage with Rousseau’s work and to explore many shared themes such as sympathy, political economy, sentiment, and inequality. This collection brings together an international and interdisciplinary group of Adam Smith and Rousseau scholars to provide an exploration of the key shared concerns of these two great thinkers in politics, philosophy, economics, history, and literature.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric R. Scerri

<span>The very nature of chemistry presents us with a tension. A tension between the exhilaration of diversity of substances and forms on the one hand and the safety of fundamental unity on the other. Even just the recent history of chemistry has been al1 about this tension, from the debates about Prout's hypothesis as to whether there is a primary matter in the 19th century to the more recent speculations as to whether computers will enable us to virtually dispense with experimental chemistry.</span>


2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Russ ◽  
Gary John Previts ◽  
Edward N. Coffman

Presenting evidence from a 19th century corporation, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company (C&O), the paper shows that issues of corporate governance have existed since the first corporations were established in the U.S. The C&O used a stockholder review committee to review the annual report of the president and directors. The paper shows how the C&O stockholders used this committee to supplement the corporate governance structure. The corporate governance structure of the C&O is also viewed from a theoretical structure as espoused by Hart [1995].


2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Russ ◽  
Gary J. Previts ◽  
Edward N. Coffman

Canal companies were among the first enterprises to be organized in the corporate form and to require large amounts of capital. This paper examines the stockholder review committee of a 19th century corporation, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company (C&O), and discusses how the C&O used this corporate governance structure to monitor and improve financial management and operations. A major strength was the concern and dedication of the stockholders to the company, while a major weakness was the political control exerted by the State of Maryland. The paper provides an historical perspective on corporate governance in the 19th century. This research contributes to the literature by providing detailed workings and practices of a stockholder review committee. The paper documents corporate governance efforts in archival sources that provide an early example of accountability required in a corporate charter and the manner in which the stockholders carried out this responsibility.


Author(s):  
Georg Menz

This new and comprehensive volume invites the reader on a tour of the exciting subfield of comparative political economy. The book provides an in-depth account of the theoretical debates surrounding different models of capitalism. Tracing the origins of the field back to Adam Smith and the French Physiocrats, the development of the study of models of political-economic governance is laid out and reviewed. Comparative Political Economy (CPE) sets itself apart from International Political Economy (IPE), focusing on domestic economic and political institutions that compose in combination diverse models of political economy. Drawing on evidence from the US, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, and Japan, the volume affords detailed coverage of the systems of industrial relations, finance, welfare states, and the economic role of the state. There is also a chapter that charts the politics of public and private debt. Much of the focus in CPE has rested on ideas, interests, and institutions, but the subfield ought to take the role of culture more seriously. This book offers suggestions for doing so. It is intended as an introduction to the field for postgraduate students, yet it also offers new insights and fresh inspiration for established scholars. The Varieties of Capitalism approach seems to have reached an impasse, but it could be rejuvenated by exploring the composite elements of different models and what makes them hang together. Rapidly changing technological parameters, new and more recent environmental challenges, demographic change, and immigration will all affect the governance of the various political economy models throughout the OECD. The final section of the book analyses how these impending challenges will reconfigure and threaten to destabilize established national systems of capitalism.


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