CSR and social conflict in the Brazilian extractive sector

ABSTRACT

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an important means to address conflicts, support local development and build trust between businesses and civil society. Yet CSR often fails to live up to its ambitions and can even exacerbate conflicts between companies and communities. In this article we consider how changing CSR strategies over the past four decades between Brazilian company Vale to Norwegian company Hydro have fomented or mitigated company–community conflicts in Northern Brazil. We find that paternalistic and philanthropic approaches of Vale over time led to deep resentment and mistrust due to underdevelopment and environmental damages. Moreover, while Hydro’s more modern CSR strategies sought to deepen community engagement and build legitimacy, the company has struggled in addressing the legacies inherited from Vale and past and current civil society grievances. The case suggests that even forward-thinking CSR approaches are vulnerable to failure where they prioritise business risk over community engagement, neglect to account for past legacies in areas of operation, and fail to create a shared vision of future development. It suggests that EI companies should both understand and engage with their social and environmental impacts in the past, present, and future and create shared economic benefits in the short and long term in order to address social conflicts.     

以中美制度分析为基础论中国公司资本制度模式选择

美国为授权资本制的典型国家,中国实行法定资本制有其特殊的背景。以中美制度分析为基础看公司资本制度模式选择,中国应采取折衷授权资本制。     

Corporate Governance in Spain (with an Application of the Power Indices Approach)

This paper describes the governance system of Spanish listed firms in the early 1990's. Although the institutional setting of the Spanish Stock Exchanges differs little from other European national markets, we found important differences in several aspects of corporate governance. In particular, some of the standard mechanisms of control (e.g. boards and institutional shareholders) do not play an active role, whereas ownership is relatively concentrated. Moreover, power indices suggest that controlling blocs of large shareholders are very likely to form. We thus conclude that the ownership of shares is a pivotal mechanism in the governance of Spanish corporations.     

关于公司与企业法人几个问题的分析--由《公司法与公司治理结构认识误区》一文引起的思考

本文认为 ,公司的本义在于资本所有权的联合 ,但公司作为法人企业则应同时具备独立地享有和支配公司全部资产、并独立地对外承担民事责任的能力。由此 ,本文对股份合作制企业、夫妻型公司、一人公司、有限责任和多人代表制度等问题逐一作了分析。另外 ,本文提出了从归属和权能两个方面界定公司资产所有权的思路。认为 ,从最终归属上 ,企业的资产所有权属于股东 ;但在权能方面 ,企业资产的所有权则为股东与公司分别享有。股东的权能主要体现为收益 ,公司的权能主要体现为对企业资产的占有、使用和处分。因此 ,国有企业的法人地位与其资产所有权的全民性质并不矛盾。     

如何建立健全国有独资公司的法人治理结构

国有独资公司在社会主义市场经济中具有重要作用,但现实运行中其治理结构存在着诸多问题。必须建立和完善以 国资委、董事会、监事会、总经理为中心的公司法人治理结构。设想是:通过增加不同利益主体,实现股权多元化;让利益相关者代 表参与董事会和监事会以实现共同治理;建立董事和监事资格认证制度;设计合理的董事会和监事会成员结构。     

关于建立和完善省管国有企业法人治理结构问题的若干思考

完善的企业法人治理结构是建立现代企业制度的核心和关键。审视省管国有企业建立和完善企业法人治理结构中存在的改制不到位、形改质未改等问题,解决的思路是:产权制度须实行多元化改革,解决一股独大,实现决策民主化;企业运营中国有资产要实行问责制;在选人用人上实行保荐制、票决制、竞争制;董事会、监事会、经理层各司其职,相互制衡,加强对企业全方位的监督,实现国有资产的保值增值。     

The impact of downsizing on the corporate reputation for social performance

This paper investigates the impact of downsizing on a firm's reputation for corporate social performance (RCSP). Drawing on the downsizing, corporate reputation and social responsibility literatures, a number of hypotheses concerning the impact of downsizing, and particularly the types of downsizing, on a firm's reputation for corporate social performance are developed and empirically tested. The main findings of this study are that, while downsizing seems to have a negative impact on the firm's RCSP, when one takes into account the kind of managerial action that led to downsizing (layoffs and/or divestitures), this impact differs between the two stakeholder groups, industry executives and financial analysts, which were investigated. This study also found that a high financial performance prior to downsizing led to a greater negative impact on the firm's RCSP. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications     

IPO effects: corporate restructuring when a firm goes public

The public affairs of a firm issuing an initial public offering (IPO) are a critical part of the corporate restructuring efforts which firms face during the process of going public. In this paper, Bowman and Singh's (1993) definition is used to illustrate how issuing an IPO is a significant form of corporate restructuring. Public affairs are critical during both the pre‐IPO phase and during the period leading up to the IPO, as the firm must negotiate a heavily institutionalised process to successfully complete the issue. Here, the six‐year life of ‘Deja News’ is used as a way to illustrate and explain the public affairs during the process of preparing for and issuing an IPO. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications     

Hedge Funds, the Deutsche Börse Affair and Predatory Anglo-American Capitalism

Boardroom trouble at Deutsche Börse, the company that operates Germany's main stock market, has recently provoked an important debate about competing capitalist models. Werner Seifert, Deutsche Börse's ousted Chief Executive, was eager to portray himself as the innocent victim of aggressive Anglo-American investors who had bought into his company but failed to understand its traditional operating ethos. In this, he was ably supported by key figures within the ruling Social Democratic Party, who, in order to shore up the party's core support, had increasingly come to blame overseas hedge funds for the development of German corporate governance models which prioritised profits over jobs. I review the SPD's structural reading of the Deutsche Börse affair, whilst comparing it to an alternative interest-based reading. The latter allows me to focus more closely on the issue which, more than any other, led to Seifert's downfall: his refusal to bow to the expressed interests of his own shareholders by pressing ahead, against their wishes, with a hostile bid for the London Stock Exchange. Seifert's eventual removal foreclosed the possibility of an integrated London-Frankfurt stock market and, somewhat ironically given the SPD's response to the affair, as a consequence it also prevented the entry of London's highly capitalised institutional investors into the German market for corporate control. The actions of Deutsche Börse's overseas shareholders might still be seen as evidence of a predatory Anglo-American capitalism. However, their successful removal of Werner Seifert may well have been responsible for temporarily keeping other financial predators at bay.