Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
377,482
result(s) for
"CHAMBER OF COMMERCE"
Sort by:
Beyond Planetary Limits! The International Chamber of Commerce, the United Nations, and the Invention of Sustainable Development
This article examines the role of business interests in shaping the structures of global environmental governance between the United Nations (UN) Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972 and the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio in 1992. It demonstrates how the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) managed to establish itself as a key partner for the UN while articulating a neoliberal vision that emphasized the market mechanism and business self-regulation as sources of environmental governance. The article provides empirical evidence that the ICC institutionalized business self-regulation in environmental governance and contributed to the very definition of the concept of sustainable development as we know it today.
Journal Article
Trailblazers in green business: unconventional practices and motivation within a chamber of commerce business network
PurposeThe motivation and practices of business network members are explored with the purpose of determining what leads businesses to fully share and learn sustainable practice from each other and how chambers contribute to an urgent need.Design/methodology/approachIn this exploratory case study using in-depth interviews, SMEs belonging to a chamber of commerce green initiative address their unconventional thoughts regarding their participation and willingness to share their own sustainable practices.FindingsThe expectancy theory of motivation explains why members of a green business network participate in conventional and unconventional sustainable practices and the role networks play in recognizing but not increasing sustainable business practice.Originality/valueThis study is unique in that it explores the motivation and reticence of chamber of commerce business members to fully participate in a green initiative. Filling a literature gap, this study provides optimism that a chamber's green initiative may contribute to providing support for promising sustainable practice.
Journal Article
The influence machine : the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the corporate capture of American life
\"The United States now has three political parties, though only two of them are elected.The newest was founded a century ago, but just came to power in the last decade: It's the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the political party of the new American oligarchy. In this groundbreaking investigation of the big business takeover of the American political process, Alyssa Katz draws upon years of research to chronicle the rise to power of the organization and the oversized, combative personalities who lead it. The Chamber -- through its secret corporate sponsors, from Philip Morris to Exxon to Wal-Mart -- can take credit for some of the most disturbing trends in American life: the reversal of environmental protections, the buying of judgeships, the destruction of unions and worker protections, the rise of virulent anti-government ideology, the toxic role of campaign cash, and the creation of \"astroturf\" groups, culminating in the Tea Party, as cover for advancing a corporate agenda. Through its propaganda, lobbying, and campaign cash, the Chamber has created a right-wing monster that even it struggles to control, a conservative movement that is destabilizing American politics as never before. The Chamber tells this history as a series of gripping narratives that take us into the backrooms of Washington where the battles over how our country is run and regulated are fought, and then out into the real world where we see how the Chamber's campaigns play out in real lives. But in the end, Katz also points to the possibility of reversing the influence of the Chamber and its affiliated groups, and fixing our democracy\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
The US chamber and chambers of commerce respond to Black Lives Matter: Cheap talk, progressive neoliberalism, or transformative change?
This article examines the responses of the US Chamber of Commerce and state- and local-level chambers of commerce to Black Lives Matter (BLM). The US Chamber of Commerce's Equality of Opportunity Initiative stresses the business case for racial equity and the economic benefits that can be attained by overcoming race-related inequalities. Many chambers are adopting racially progressive positions, often at some cost to themselves. This article contributes a typology of stances and actions and draws on interviews with American business leaders to characterize American business organization responses to BLM. There is some movement beyond a progressive neoliberal vision of nondiscrimination to acknowledge that it is necessary to “level the playing field.” And the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives of state- and regional-level chambers suggest that they are making genuine and, in some cases, bold and meaningful attempts to advance the cause of racial equity. The evidence suggests that popular mobilization and social pressure following George Floyd's brutal murder played a critical role in enabling this progress. However, the parallels and similarities between current chamber and business DEI efforts and business stances in the tumultuous 1960s and 1970s raise the question: Can current efforts succeed where previous efforts have failed?
Journal Article
The dichotomisation fallacy of public and private corruption and the quantification dilemma
PurposeThis paper aims to examine the concept of corruption and dirty money. Corruption is amorphous and lacks a congruent definition. It is mainly divided into public and private corruption. This divide, is unnecessary, given the fact that both cause incalculable damage to the markets and lager society. Globalisation has necessitated liberalisation and resulted in amalgamating both public and private ventures. This, as a result, has made it more difficult to stick to this. Pronouncements from International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Law Commission’s attitude not to segregate between private and public bribery prior to the legislation of United Kingdom Bribery Act 2010, has added greater impetus to the debate. Attempts to quantify the amount of corruption and money laundering, has equally, hit a dead end. The figures being bandied about are all estimates or “guesstimates” that cannot stand the empirical test. As a result, the conjectures have strong potentials to continue for a longer time. The purpose of this paper is to bring to the fore the need to jettison the long-held perception that public and private corruption should be seen in different lights.Design/methodology/approachThis paper relies substantially on both primary and secondary sources in the analysis.FindingsIndicatively, the facts tilt towards the conclusion that it is impossible to actually ascertain the quantifiable amount of money that is involved in corruption and the money laundering process. It is an illusion.Originality/valueThe paper provides the platform that the time is ripe for both public and private corruption to be seen as the same thing, as they both unleash catastrophic consequences on society. The issues of globalisation and liberalisation make this inevitable.
Journal Article
Trends in the International Fight Against Bribery and Corruption
Over the past decade, we have witnessed some early signs of progress in the battle against international bribery and corruption, a problem that throughout the history of commerce had previously been ignored. We present a model that we then use to assess progress in reducing bribery. The model components include both hard law and soft law legislation components and enforcement and compliance components. We begin by summarizing the literature that convincingly argues that bribery is an immoral and unethical practice and that the economic harm it causes falls most heavily on those least able to absorb it. The next section summarizes the main provisions of anti-bribery legislation including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Organization for Eco nomic Development's Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Officials in International Business Transactions, the United Nations Convention Against Corruption and the laws of selected countries. We conclude this section with a discussion of the \"moral imperialism\" argument for not imposing Western laws and values on other cultures. The next section focuses on the roles played by NGOs including Transparency International (TI), the World Economic Forum (WEF), and the International Chamber of Commerce. We review trends in enforcement and prosecution, including a review of the United States' enforcement processes, mechanisms for cross-border legal assistance, a discussion of the distinctive nature of FCPA cases, and an assessment of what the future holds for enforcement. The final section focuses on compliance processes for corporations aimed at reducing the risk of FCPA and related violations. This section also addresses the ethics of gift giving and \"grease\" payments. The article concludes with a summary and suggestions for further research. Throughout the article, we reference important bribery cases and include comments from several authorities who are on the front lines of the battle against international bribery.
Journal Article
Do the Justices Vote Like Policy Makers? Evidence from Scaling the Supreme Court with Interest Groups
Research in judicial politics often assumes that Supreme Court justices vote on the basis of one-dimensional policy preferences. This article challenges this assumption using multidimensional scaling in two dimensions to compare the justices’ votes with positions taken by interest groups in Supreme Court cases. Focusing on two active groups, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the US Chamber of Commerce, the article demonstrates that the voting alignments of the justices deviate substantially from the policy dimensions identified by the interest groups. Although the scaling approach cannot determine whether the divergence is due to countervailing policy influences or disagreements about legal methodology, a qualitative examination of the cases suggests some of both. These findings cast doubt on the notion that the Court operates in a one-dimensional policy space and suggest the need for more nuanced models of judicial motivation.
Journal Article
Lobbying America
Lobbying Americatells the story of the political mobilization of American business in the 1970s and 1980s. Benjamin Waterhouse traces the rise and ultimate fragmentation of a broad-based effort to unify the business community and promote a fiscally conservative, antiregulatory, and market-oriented policy agenda to Congress and the country at large. Arguing that business's political involvement was historically distinctive during this period, Waterhouse illustrates the changing power and goals of America's top corporate leaders.
Examining the rise of the Business Roundtable and the revitalization of older business associations such as the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Waterhouse takes readers inside the mind-set of the powerful CEOs who responded to the crises of inflation, recession, and declining industrial productivity by organizing an effective and disciplined lobbying force. By the mid-1970s, that coalition transformed the economic power of the capitalist class into a broad-reaching political movement with real policy consequences. Ironically, the cohesion that characterized organized business failed to survive the ascent of conservative politics during the 1980s, and many of the coalition's top goals on regulatory and fiscal policies remained unfulfilled. The industrial CEOs who fancied themselves the \"voice of business\" found themselves one voice among many vying for influence in an increasingly turbulent and unsettled economic landscape.
Complicating assumptions that wealthy business leaders naturally get their way in Washington,Lobbying Americashows how economic and political powers interact in the American democratic system.
eBook