Public Forces And Private Politics In American Big Business (business And Public Policy)

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. Cover 1 Public Forces and Private Politics in American Big Business 3 Series 4 Title 5 Copyright 6 Contents 7 Illustrations 8 Tables 9 Acknowledgments 10 1: Introduction 13 Business power and the declining efficacy of contentious politics 15 The rise of private politics and the increasing scope of private policymaking 20 The rise of private politics 21 The scope of private policymaking 23 Summary 26 2: The firm as political actor and a theory of private policymaking 29 The firm as political actor 29 The unitary rational actor model and politics 30 The nexus of contracts model and politics 32 The behavioral theory of the firm and politics 33 Reconceptualizing the firm 34 A theory of private policymaking 36 Empirical implications and case selection 44 Summary and plan of the book 46 3: Unveiling the public roots of private policymaking 47 Firm strategy and aggregate private policymaking 49 Political motivations and aggregate corporate private policymaking 50 Testing for aggregate reputational and capacity effects 52 Aggregate-level results 58 Executives’ views of private policymaking 63 The importance of contentious politics 64 The growing prominence of private politics 66 Communication and political consequences 69 Summary and conclusions 70 4: The public, the state, and corporate environmentalism 72 Corporate environmentalism in the United States 73 Existing explanations 75 Cutting costs: does it pay to be green? 75 Market share and consumer and investor forces 76 Regulatory “influence” 77 Modeling environmental policy adoption 78 Public opinion on the environment 78 The environment and regulatory threat 80 Testing for political effects 80 Independent variables 83 Results and discussion 87 Summary and conclusions 98 5: Public opinion and gay rights in the workplace 100 Existing explanations 103 Modeling nondiscrimination and partner benefits policy adoption 104 Existing and potential regulation 105 Trends in public opinion on gay rights 107 Testing for political effects 111 Independent variables 113 Results and discussion 117 Summary and conclusions 125 6: Total executive compensation and regulatory threat 128 Laissez-faire corporate governance 131 Existing explanations 132 The nexus of contract approach and arms-length bargaining 132 The behavioral theory and power’s role 133 Modeling the politics of pay 134 Current regulatory policy 135 Public opinion 137 Testing for political effects 138 Independent variables 140 Results and discussion 144 Summary and conclusions 153 7: Conclusion 156 Key themes and findings 157 The firm as political actor 157 Empirical findings and implications 158 Areas for future research 162 Private policymaking and policy feedback 163 Contentious politics, private politics, and the pace of policy change 166 Concluding thoughts 167 A Data sources and variable measurement by chapter 169 References 180 Index 197 "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"--Provided by publisher A rigorous examination of the politics of corporate social responsibility in the United States. Through the use of case studies and interviews with 'Fortune 500' company executives, this book shows how politics affect American firms' choices, even in the wake of the 2007–2009 financial crisis. A rigorous examination of the politics of corporate social responsibility in the United States. Through the use of case studies and interviews with 'Fortune 500' company executives, it shows how politics affect American firms' choices, even in the wake of the 2007-2009 financial crisis Examines the nature and process of private policymaking in US firms and how this interacts with public policymaking