Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The United Nations Global Compact as a Facilitator of the Lockean Social Contract

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) has difficulties in attracting new voluntary members and inciting them to implement its ten principles. The present article analyzes this implementation deficit from the perspective of Lockean social contract theory and derives new strategies for reducing it. On this view, the UNGC presents itself as the attempt to realize a set of moral norms, typically enforced by an impartial minimal state, protecting its citizens from violations of their natural rights, negative externalities and discrimination by bribed officials. It will only succeed in facilitating the realization of those norms on a strictly voluntary basis, if it manages to overcome the underlying n-person prisoner’s dilemma. This requires the existence of a critical mass k < N of conditionally moral firms, which are willing to observe the UNGC principles and to resist the temptation to free ride on their observance by others, if it does not disadvantage them in comparison to their situation in a state of universal non-observance. Four contracting problems can impede the conclusion of this Lockean social contract. The UNGC has a slim chance of overcoming its implementation deficit on a non-coercive basis by cultivating four institutional capabilities assisting conditionally moral firms in surmounting those four problems of voluntary norm compliance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Source: own presentation

Fig. 2

Source: Adapted from Schelling (1973, p. 388) and Drummond Nauck (2016, p. 51)

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. https://www.unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc (2 July 2017).

  2. https://www.unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/mission/principles (2 July 2017).

  3. http://www.ilo.org/global/standards/lang--en/index.htm (2 July 2017).

  4. http://staging.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?documentid=78&articleid=1163 (1 November 2017).

  5. http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CAC/index.html (2 July 2017).

  6. https://www.unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/mission/principles (2 July 2017).

  7. This analysis provides a powerful explanation for the implementation deficit of the UNGC, which, in 14 years, merely attracted 8000 companies and 4200 NGOs (Williams 2014, p. 243) out of target populations of millions of companies and thousands of NGOs respectively. Only a subset of those UNGC members has been actively involved in the local UNGC networks of their host countries (Rasche and Waddock 2014, p. 215). Moreover, the lax policy on the submission of voluntary progress reports, permitting up to 4 years of non-compliance (Berliner and Prakash 2015, p. 121), could not prevent the delisting of more than 4000 companies by the end of May 2014 (Williams 2014, p. 244).

  8. http://www.globalcompact.de/wAssets/docs/Deutsches-Netzwerk/MOU_2014_Germany-Signed.pdf (2 July 17).

Abbreviations

CBE:

Contractualist Business Ethics

ICCA:

International Center for Corporate Accountability

ILO:

International Labor Organization

UN:

United Nations

UNEP:

United Nations Environment Programme

UNGC:

United Nations Global Compact

UNODC:

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

References

  • Berliner, D., & Prakash, A. (2012). From norms to programs: The United Nations Global Compact and global governance. Regulation & Governance, 6(2), 149–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berliner, D., & Prakash, A. (2014). The United Nations Global Compact: An institutionalist perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 122, 217–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berliner, D., & Prakash, A. (2015). “Bluewashing” the firm? Voluntary regulations, program design, and member compliance with the United Nations Global Compact. The Policy Studies Journal, 43(1), 115–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bremer, J. A. (2008). How global is the global compact? Business Ethics: A European Review, 17(3), 227–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drummond Nauck, J. (2016). Das Gewinnparadox der Unternehmensethik: Eine spieltheoretische Analyse (The paradox of profit in business ethics: A game-theoretic analysis). Journal of Markets and Ethics, 4(1), 43–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert, D. U., & Behnam, M. (2013). Trust and the United Nations Global Compact: A network theory perspective. Business and Society, 52(1), 135–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffin, J. (2008). On human rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Haack, P., & Scherer, A. G. (2014). Why sparing the rod does not spoil the child: A critique of the “strict father” model in transnational governance. Journal of Business Ethics, 122, 225–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamburger, H. (1973). N-person prisoner's dilemma. The Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 3(1), 27–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heugens, P. P. M. A. R., Kaptein, M., & van Oosterhout, J. H. (2004). Ties that grind? Corroborating a typology of social contracting problems. Journal of Business Ethics, 49(3), 235–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobbes, T. (1651/1968). Leviathan: Or, The matter, forme and power of a commonwealth. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

  • Homann, K., & Blome-Drees F. (1992). Wirtschafts- und unternehmensethik (Economic and Business Ethics). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Rupprecht.

    Google Scholar 

  • ICCA. (2010). Making sense of CSR-S reports. New York: International Center for Corporate Accountability.

  • ILO. (2017). Labour standards. Retrieved on 2 July 2017 from http://www.ilo.org/global/standards/lang--en/index.htm.

  • Kell, G. (2012). 12 Years later: Reflections on the growth of the UN Global Compact. Business and Society, 52(1), 31–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kell, G., & Levin, D. (2003). The Global Compact network: An historic experiment in learning and action. Business and Society Review, 108(2), 151–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knudsen, J. (2011). Company delistings from the UN Global Compact: Limited business demand or domestic governance failure? Journal of Business Ethics, 103(3), 331–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Locke, J. (2009[1689]). Two treatises of government. In P. Laslett (Ed.), Cambridge texts in the history of political thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Müller, C. (2017). Wieviel Moral kann sich ein Unternehmen leisten? Einige spieltheoretische Überlegungen (How much morals can a company afford? Some game-theoretic considerations). In E. Nass, W. H. Spindler & J. H. Zabel (Eds.), Kultur des Gemeinwohls (pp. 262–280). Trier: Paulinus Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nickel, J. (2017). Human rights. In Zalta, E. N. (Ed.), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2017 edition). https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2017/entries/rights-human/.

  • Nozick, R. (1974). Anarchy, state, and utopia. Reprinted edition from 1999. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

  • Palazzo, G., & Scherer, A. G. (2010). The United Nations Global Compact as a learning approach. In A. Rasche & G. Kell (Eds.), The United Nations Global Compact: Achievements, trends and challenges (pp. 234–247). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Rasche, A. (2009). A necessary supplement: What the United Nations Global Compact is and is not. Business and Society, 48(4), 511–537.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasche, A., & Waddock, S. (2014). Global sustainability governance and the UN Global Compact: A rejoinder to critics. Journal of Business Ethics, 122, 209–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasche, A., Waddock, S., & McIntosh, M. (2013). The United Nations Global Compact: Retrospect and prospect. Business and Society, 52(1), 6–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rawls, J. (1999). The law of peoples (with ‘The Idea of Public Reason Revisited’). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raz, J. (2010). Human rights without foundations. In S. Besson & J. Tasioulas (Eds.), The philosophy of international law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruggie, J. G., & Kell, G. (1999). Global markets and social legitimacy: The case of the Global Compact. Transnational Corporations, 8, 101–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schelling, Thomas C. (1973). Hockey helmets, concealed weapons, and daylight saving. The Journal of Conflict Resolution, 7, 381–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schembera, S. (2016). Implementing corporate social responsibility: Empirical insights on the impact of the UN Global Compact on its business participants. Business & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650316635579.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sethi, S. P., & Schepers, D. H. (2014). United Nations Global Compact: The promise-performance gap. Journal of Business Ethics, 122, 193–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tuckness, A. (2016). Locke’s political philosophy. In Zalta, E. N. (Ed.), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2016 edition). https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2016/entries/locke-political/.

  • UNGC. (2017). Who we are. Retrieved on 2 July 2017 from https://www.unglobalcompact.org/.

  • UNEP. (2017). Rio declaration on environment and development. Retrieved on 1 November 2017 from http://staging.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?documentid=78&articleid=1163.

  • UNODC. (2017). United nations convention against corruption. Retrieved on 2 July 2017 from http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CAC/index.html.

  • van Oosterhout, J. H., Heugens, P. P. M. A. R., & Kaptein, M. (2006). The internal morality of contracting: Advancing the contractualist endeavor in business ethics. Academy of Management Review, 31(3), 521–539.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voegtlin, C., & Pless, N. M. (2014). Global governance: CSR and the role of the UN Global Compact. Journal of Business Ethics, 122, 179–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vogel, D. (2006). The market for virtue: The potential and limits of corporate social responsibility (2nd ed.). Washington: Brookings Institution Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, O. F. (2014). The United Nations Global Compact: What did it promise? Journal of Business Ethics, 122, 241–251.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Economic Education, University of Münster, Scharnhorststraße 100, Münster, 48151, Germany

    Damian Bäumlisberger

Authors
  1. Damian Bäumlisberger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Damian Bäumlisberger.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

Damian Bäumlisberger declares that he did not receive any specific funding for this study and he has no conflict of interest. He works for a publicly funded university and his salary is not tied to any ideological, political or economic goals.

Human and Animal Rights

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bäumlisberger, D. The United Nations Global Compact as a Facilitator of the Lockean Social Contract. J Bus Ethics 159, 187–200 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3721-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3721-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation