Public forces and private politics in American big business / Timothy Werner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Werner, Timothy, author.

Series:

Business and public policy.

Business and public policy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Big business--United States.

Big business.

Business and politics--United States.

Business and politics.

Corporate power--United States.

Corporate power.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 195 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

Public Forces & Private Politics in American Big Business

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

What are the political motivations behind firms' decisions to adopt policies that self-regulate their behavior in a manner that is beyond compliance with state, federal and local law? Public Forces and Private Politics in American Big Business advances a new understanding of the firm as a political actor that expands beyond the limited conceptualizations offered by economists and organization theorists. Timothy Werner develops a general theory of private politics that is tested using three case studies: the environment, gay rights and executive compensation. Using the conclusions of these case studies and an analysis of interviews with executives at 'Fortune 500' firms, Werner finds that politics can contribute significantly to our understanding of corporate decision-making on private policies and corporate social responsibility in the United States.

Contents:

Cover; Public Forces and Private Politics in American Big Business; Series; Title; Copyright; Contents; Illustrations; Tables; Acknowledgments; 1: Introduction; Business power and the declining efficacy of contentious politics; The rise of private politics and the increasing scope of private policymaking; The rise of private politics; The scope of private policymaking; Summary; 2: The firm as political actor and a theory of private policymaking; The firm as political actor; The unitary rational actor model and politics; The nexus of contracts model and politics

The behavioral theory of the firm and politicsReconceptualizing the firm; A theory of private policymaking; Empirical implications and case selection; Summary and plan of the book; 3: Unveiling the public roots of private policymaking; Firm strategy and aggregate private policymaking; Political motivations and aggregate corporate private policymaking; Testing for aggregate reputational and capacity effects; Aggregate-level results; Executives' views of private policymaking; The importance of contentious politics; The growing prominence of private politics

Communication and political consequencesSummary and conclusions; 4: The public, the state, and corporate environmentalism; Corporate environmentalism in the United States; Existing explanations; Cutting costs: does it pay to be green?; Market share and consumer and investor forces; Regulatory "influence"; Modeling environmental policy adoption; Public opinion on the environment; The environment and regulatory threat; Testing for political effects; Independent variables; Results and discussion; Summary and conclusions; 5: Public opinion and gay rights in the workplace; Existing explanations

Modeling nondiscrimination and partner benefits policy adoptionExisting and potential regulation; Trends in public opinion on gay rights; Testing for political effects; Independent variables; Results and discussion; Summary and conclusions; 6: Total executive compensation and regulatory threat; Laissez-faire corporate governance; Existing explanations; The nexus of contract approach and arms-length bargaining; The behavioral theory and power's role; Modeling the politics of pay; Current regulatory policy; Public opinion; Testing for political effects; Independent variables

Results and discussionSummary and conclusions; 7: Conclusion; Key themes and findings; The firm as political actor; Empirical findings and implications; Areas for future research; Private policymaking and policy feedback; Contentious politics, private politics, and the pace of policy change; Concluding thoughts; A Data sources and variable measurement by chapter; References; Index

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-139-50633-1

1-107-23179-5

1-280-77459-2

9786613684967

1-139-51798-8

1-139-14915-6

1-139-51540-3

1-139-51448-2

1-139-51705-8

1-139-51891-7

OCLC:

795895654