Table Of Content

Governance and Business Models for Sustainable Capitalism Governance and Business Models for Sustainable Capitalism touches upon many of the central themes of today’s debate on business and society. In particular, it brings attention to a recurrent tension between efficiency, innovation, and productivity on the one hand, and fairness, equity, and sustainability on the other. The book argues that we need radical rethinking of business models and economic governance, beyond the classical doctrine, which sees social and ecological responsibility as lying with public-policy regulation of purely profit- seeking firms. In spite of the popular CSR agenda, business – as we know it today – is both too transient and too limited in its motivation to carry the regulatory burden. We need to adopt a much wider concept of ‘partnered governance’, where advanced states and pioneering companies work together to raise the social and environmental bar. The book suggests that civil engagements based on moral rather than formal rights, and amplified through the media, may provide a healthy challenge both to autocratic planning and to solely profit- centered commercialization. The book also proposes a triple cycle theory of innovation for sustainability: a novel framing of the efficacy of green and prosocial entrepreneurship as intertwined with political visions and supportive institutions. In addition, the book offers reflections on the ways in which further digital robotizaton may enable transition to an ‘Agora Economy’ where productive efficiency is combined with expanded civic freedoms. Aimed primarily at researchers, academics, and students in the fields of political economy, business and society, corporate governance, business ethics, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability, the book will additionally be of value to practitioners, supplying them with information regarding the challenges associated with the shaping of sustainable or ‘civilized’ market capitalism for a better world. Atle Midttun is Professor in the Department of Law and Governance at BI Norwegian Business School, Norway. He has until recently been co-director of two of the School’s research centres: the Centre for Energy and the Centre for Corporate Responsibility. His teaching and research interests include economic regulation, innovation, energy and sustainability, corporate governance, and CSR. Routledge Studies in Management, Organizations, and Society This series presents innovative work grounded in new realities, addressing issues crucial to an understanding of the contemporary world. This is the world of organized societies, where boundaries between formal and in- formal, public and private, local and global organizations have been dis- placed or have vanished, along with other 19th century dichotomies and oppositions. Management, apart from becoming a specialized profession for a growing number of people, is an everyday activity for most members of modern societies. Similarly, at the level of enquiry, culture and technology, and literature and economics, can no longer be conceived as isolated intellectual fields; con- ventional canons and established mainstreams are contested. Management, Organizations, and Society addresses these contemporary dynamics of transformation in a manner that transcends disciplinary boundaries, with books that will appeal to researchers, students, and practitioners alike. Recent titles in this series include: Self-Management, Entrepreneurial Culture, and Economy 4.0 A Contemporary Approach to Organizational Theory Development Edited by Agnieszka Rzepka, Zbigniew Olesiński and Elżbieta Jędrych Social Enterprise in China Benedicte Brøgger Reputation Management and Family Business Zdzisława Dacko-Pikiewicz Governance and Business Models for Sustainable Capitalism Atle Midttun Governance and Business Models for Sustainable Capitalism Atle Midttun First published 2022 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 and by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2022 Taylor & Francis The right of Atle Midttun to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The Open Access version of this book, available at www. taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Names: Midttun, Atle, 1952- author. Title: Governance and business models for sustainable capitalism / Atle Midttun. Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2022. | Series: Routledge studies in management, organizations and society | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021032598 | ISBN 9781138210592 (hbk) | ISBN 9780367770440 (pbk) | ISBN 9781315454931 (ebk) Subjects: LCSH: Capitalism. | Sustainability. | Social responsibility of business. Classification: LCC HB501 .M6347 2022 | DDC 330.12/2–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021032598 ISBN: 978-1-138-21059-2 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-77044-0 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-45493-1 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781315454931 Typeset in Sabon by MPS Limited, Dehradun Contents List of Figures vii List of Tables ix Preface x Introduction 1 SECTION I Historical Roots and Past Experience 17 1 The ‘Terrible Beauty’ of Early Industrial Capitalism 19 2 Re-Embedding Capitalism Under Social Democracy 34 SECTION II 21st Century Challenges 47 3 Technological Challenges 49 4 Financial Challenges 63 5 Ecological Challenges 77 vi Contents SECTION III Governance Approaches 87 6 Neoliberal Deregulation 89 7 Can Business Govern Itself? 101 8 Re-Chartering the Firm 124 9 Civic Governance 140 10 Bringing the State Back In 159 11 Governing Transitions 175 12 Polycentric Governance in a Bipolar World 189 Index 196 Figures 0.1 Allegory of Good Government 13 0.2 Allegory of Bad Government 14 1.1 Estimates of GDP per Capita 20 2.1 GDP per Capita and Equality 39 2.2 Income Inequality, Nordic Welfare States Benchmarked Against US and UK 41 2.3 Three Measures of the Electoral Performance of Social Democratic Parties 43 3.1 The Adjusted Labour Income Share in Selected G20 Countries and Spain Estimated by AMECO 53 3.2 The Triangular Relationships of the Gig Economy 54 3.3 Uber’s Business Model 55 4.1 Finance as a Share of the Economy 64 4.2 Average Statutory Corporate Income Tax Rates by Region Excluding Zero-Rate Jurisdictions 70 4.3 Global Crisis 74 5.1 GDP per Capita 78 5.2 The Planetary Boundary Model 79 5.3 Energy Consumption in the United States (1776–2014) 80 5.4 World Primary Energy Demand by Fuel and Related CO Emissions by Scenario 82 2 6.1 S&P 500 Index – 90 Year Historical Chart 90 6.2 Growth Rrates for Selected Western Economies 91 6.3 The Geographical Shift of Wealth (Share of World’s GDP %) 97 7.1 Growth in global Sustainability Reporting Rates 103 7.2 Median Total Returns of Sustainable and Traditional Funds 2004–2018 115 7.3 Prosociality & Sustainability Engagement and Value Creation 117 9.1 Trajectories of Governance 155 10.1 Public Social Spending as Share of GDP 160 viii Figures 10.2 Minimum Wagers Selected Countries (2012/2013 Values) 166 10.3 Gini Index of Selected OECD Countries with and without Public Transfers 168 10.4 Effects of Extraordinary Monetary Policy on S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 170 10.5 Total Assets on the Fed’s and European Central Bank’s Balance Sheet 171 11.1 The Visionary, Product and Institutional Cycles 176 11.2 The Shift from Carbon- to Eco-Modernity 178 11.3 Top 1% National Income 182 11.4 Public Transfers through an Individual’s Life with and without Sabbaticals 185 12.1 Novel Governance Horizons 190 12.2 Democratic and Authoritarian Governance Horizons 193 Tables 5.1 World Primary Energy Demand by Fuel (Mtoe) 81 6.1 Comparing Two Models of Governance 89