Description
Book SynopsisThis cutting-edge book critically reviews the field of attempted legal control and regulation of delinquent conduct by business actors in the form of exploitative, collusive and corrupt behaviour. It explores key topics including victimhood, accountability, theories of trading and shared responsibility.
Christopher Harding and Alison Cronin reflect on the attempts that have been made globally to use criminal law and other methods of formal legal control, as well as more flexible and innovative approaches under the heading of 'regulation', to address the problem of bad business practice. The book argues for a return to first principles and that the possibility of a reconfiguration of economic ordering and market and trading culture should be considered; as business malpractice is largely inherent in the dominant capitalist model, that model is in need of repurposing and reform.
Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this book will be a valuable resource for scholars and students of law with a focus on business, commercial law and criminal law, in addition to researchers of corporate governance and public administration and management. Its critical arguments will also benefit NGOs, business professionals and campaign groups.
Trade Review'Christopher Harding and Alison Cronin’s Bad Business Practice pulls off the rare feat of combining an incisive theoretical analysis of the “economic and cultural pathologies” underlying corporate delinquency with a close-up, time- and context-sensitive critique of the criminal, regulatory and self-regulatory responses to these truly profound malaises. It is a brave book that dares to question the continued legitimacy of homo economicus
who is still taken for granted in most critiques of the corporation in the 21st century.’ -- Uta Kohl, University of Southampton, UK
Table of ContentsContents: Preface Introduction to Bad Business Practice: towards a jurisprudence of business malpractice, delinquency and criminality PART I THE CHALLENGES FOR REGIMES OF LEGAL CONTROL 1. Clever or bad? Mapping the legal terrain of business delinquency and collusion 2. In search of a normative theory: the missing jurisprudence 3. From entrepreneur to malefactor: economic ideologies and theories of trading 4. Heroes and villains: an investigation into perpetration and victimhood and the relation between action and harm PART II THE EMERGENCE OF REGULATION AS A MODEL OF CONTROL 5. Regulation and enforcement: the panopticon industry 6. Regulated self-regulation: the new middle way 7. Regulation in theory: challenging the underlying assumptions PART III RECONFIGURING RESPONSIBILITY: THE ROLE OF THE STATE, CORPORATE ACTORS AND CIVIL SOCIETY 8. The moral economy of trade and business: bad business behaviour as systemic malaise Postscript: a final word – don’t shoot the piano player Index
