Friedman's Stockholder Theory of Corporate Moral Responsibility
In this paper I critically discuss MiltonFriedman's classic article, ``The SocialResponsibility of Business is to Increase itsProfits.'' Friedman offers several argumentsfor his stockholder theory of corporate moralresponsibility, according to which acorporation's only moral resp...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Springer Science + Business Media B. V
2003
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| In: |
Teaching business ethics
Year: 2003, Volume: 7, Issue: 4, Pages: 437-451 |
| Further subjects: | B
stockholder theory
B Critical Thinking B Artificial Persons Argument B Free Society Argument B Personal Responsibility Argument B rules of society B rules of the game B corporate moral responsibility B Taxation Analogy Argument B Agent-Principal Argument B Milton Friedman |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In this paper I critically discuss MiltonFriedman's classic article, ``The SocialResponsibility of Business is to Increase itsProfits.'' Friedman offers several argumentsfor his stockholder theory of corporate moralresponsibility, according to which acorporation's only moral responsibility is topromote the financial well-being of itsstockholders. I first consider aninconsistency in his statement of his position– namely, the distinct and non-equivalentconstraints he places on profit-maximization(``the rules of the game'' and ``the rules ofsociety''). I then turn to a consideration ofsix arguments Friedman gives to support histheory, spelling them out in detail and showingthat none of them is sound. I conclude with abrief intuitive argument against his theory. |
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| ISSN: | 1573-1944 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Teaching business ethics
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1023/B:TEBE.0000005711.70399.51 |