Little Republics

Authority and the Political Nature of the Firm

Bibliographic Data

ID6325770
AuthorsÍñigo González-Ricoy (0000-0003-4634-2017, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume50
Issue1
Pages90-120
Publication date2022-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePhilosophy & Public Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0048-3915 • E-ISSN: 1088-4963
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/papa.12205
OpenAlexW4200230684
LanguageEN
Citations received28
References cited4

Little Republics: Authority and the Political Nature of the FirmBusiness corporations, we often hear, are political entities akin to the state in many respects, including their revenue, workforce, influence, and internal powers.This should come as no surprise.For early corporations like the English East India Company and modern constitutional republics were both modeled on the medieval chartered town and granted similar powers, such as the authority to pass regulations, command, adjudicate, sanction, and even to imprison and wage war. 1 Corporations, Blackstone noted, are "little republics." 2 Present-day corporations no doubt wield more limited powers than the East India Company did.But their parallels with the state, and in particular as to the authority that business managers and state officials exert, some argue, are still significant.One implication of this view is that if the relation of employee to firm is akin to that of subject to state, then the theory of the firm as a nexus of purely private, authority-free contracts may err.Another implication is that corporate authority may then be, absent accountability to its subjects, as objectionable as unaccountable state powers, such as those that autocracies wield.And considerations favoring I owe thanks, first and foremost, to Axel Gosseries, Serena Olsaretti, Jahel Queralt, and Andrew Williams, who offered detailed comments and useful advice

Law and economics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Law · Political Economy and Marxism

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