Play fair! Innovating internal self-regulation in the market for profit

Regulation imposes compliance demands on business, but these controls by no means ensure that corporations will act ethically. Externally imposed controls by government or industry are prompts intended to move organizations to engage in a moral minimum. Such efforts are typically reactionary corrective measures, often crafted and applied after an ethical scandal occurs, and thereby offer limited effectiveness in providing systemic change. To provide insight on internally driven controls, this article examines how a newer form of monetized self-regulation, referred to as inverted moral markets, might be leveraged to motivate corporate ethical behavior. Inverted moral market (IMM) operations target firms suspected of unethical action, providing a type of market whistleblowing. Such activities are monetized through the sale of information to investors and by short selling. Rather than a desire to build moral strength, IMM firms are motivated by self-interest and profit. They can potentially ‘do good’ by imposing self-correction within the market, but without virtuous intent. We explore IMMs and the varied impacts their activities may have on the functioning of the overall market. We argue that a more balanced approach between internal and external regulation may enhance the environment for moral balance in a capitalist market system.     

The optimal size of the competitive firm

In this article a simple derivation of the optimal long-run size of the competitive firm is given under general assumptions about the organization of the enterprise, and in a world where production occurs only under constant or increasing returns to scale. To do this, only the basic notion of a firm as some form of central coordinating agency is relied on.     

论雷切尔·卡森《寂静的春天》对美国文学与社会的影响

雷切尔·卡森是20世纪美国最著名的生态文学作家,生态文学史上里程碑式的人物,其生态思想促进了生态学研究和环保运动的发展,对美国乃至世界许多国家的环境政策和发展战略产生了巨大的影响。《寂静的春天》是其生态思想的集中体现,小说的发表促成了美国生态文学的繁荣,对美国社会的影响也是广泛而深远的。