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The Role of Business in Poverty Reduction towards a Sustainable Corporate Story?
Tulder, Rob von
Tulder, Rob von
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Abstract
"The corporate interest for poverty has been as old as the industrial revolution. In the 19th century, the founders of major corporations not only invested in the set-up of their factories, but also created ‘company villages’ and ‘social programs’ with a view to the social well-being of their workers. Most strategies represented a combination of enlightened self-interest, efforts to keep the (upcoming) trade-unions at bay and either prevent governments from regulation or filling the gaps left by laissez-faire governments. In the post-war period the poverty issue became the prime responsibility of governments (welfare states) and civil society (development aid and local charity). If any, corporations had only indirect responsibility for poverty. Gradually, since the midst of the 1990s and with increasing pace since the beginning of the 21st century the (potential) contribution and direct responsibility of corporations to alleviating global poverty – as opposed to local poverty - has received increasing attention again (Cf. Kolk et al., 2006; Wilson and Wilson, 2006; Prahalad, 2005). Attention is also accompanied by major controversy: in particular the role of Multinational Enterprises investing in developing countries has by some been heralded as a positive force to alleviate poverty, while others have been stressing the job-displacing and income inequalities precipitating effects of the same investments."
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Preprint
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2008-11
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With permission of the license/copyright holder