Date
12-2018
Document Type
Capstone Project (Open Access)
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
Department
Social, Behavioral & Global Studies
Major
Global Studies
First Advisor
Ajit Abraham
Abstract
Through the lens of the free-trade-optimist, it is black and white: corporations bring jobs, and jobs equal a happy and healthy economy. A major oversight in this neoliberal Utopian ideology is that corporations are not in the business of building communities, nor do they have an interest in keeping their operations stationary enough to allow economic growth to occur over a span of years. Corporations abandon communities as quickly as they arrive to find their next cheap labor hub. Quite contradictory to the original purpose of free trade, economic growth in Free Trade Zones is not long term or secure. If anything, the neoliberal global economic system is abusing developing communities by exploiting their human and environmental resources with little concern for legality or ethics. This essay highlights ethical issues presented to the global community by free-market fundamentalism. The author analyzes pro and con viewpoints for neoliberalism, and looks critically at the role of corporate social responsibility in stabilizing communities and encouraging economic growth in free trade zones.
Recommended Citation
Papion, Sarah, "Free Trade and Corporate Social Responsibility: Ethical Dilemmas in Global Economic Development" (2018). Capstone Projects and Master's Theses. 423.
https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/caps_thes_all/423
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons, Economic Theory Commons, Growth and Development Commons, Income Distribution Commons, International Economics Commons, Labor Economics Commons, Macroeconomics Commons, Other Economics Commons, Political Economy Commons
