Ethics Codes, Corporations, and the Challenge of Globalization

Download or read book Ethics Codes, Corporations, and the Challenge of Globalization written by Wesley Cragg and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2005-02-24 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Globalization has altered in significant ways the tools available to regulate international commerce. One result is the emergence of ethics codes, codes of responsible conduct, and best practice codes designed to win adherence to internationally acceptable norms of conduct on the part of corporations and other organizations interacting in the global market place. This volume looks at these developments with particular focus on five topic areas: respect for human rights, treatment of labor, bribery and corruption, environmental protection, and international finance and the control of money laundering. What is significant about these developments is the emerging emphasis on self-regulation as the primary method for raising standards of corporate conduct. The contributors examine the reasons for the emergence of ethical codes and the phenomenon of self-regulation within the context of globalization and look at the role of national governments, international government institutions and other international organizations in shaping and enforcing them. They also study the implications of these developments for corporate governance and the changing roles of national and international institutions in the regulation of international commerce.