A Corporate Solution to Global Poverty : : How Multinationals Can Help the Poor and Invigorate Their Own Legitimacy / / George Lodge, Craig Wilson.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Lodge, George,; Wilson, Craig,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2016]; ©2006
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (208 p.)

World leaders have given the reduction of global poverty top priority. And yet it persists. Indeed, in many countries whose governments lack either the desire or the ability to act, poverty has worsened. This book, a joint venture of a Harvard professor and an economist with the International Finance Corporation, argues that the solution lies in the creation of a new institution, the World Development Corporation (WDC), a partnership of multinational corporations (MNCs), international development agencies, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). In A Corporate Solution to Global Poverty, George Lodge and Craig Wilson assert that MNCs have the critical combination of capabilities required to build investment, grow economies, and create jobs in poor countries, and thus to reduce poverty. Furthermore, they can do so profitably and thus sustainably. But they lack legitimacy and risk can be high, and so a collective approach is better than one in which an individual company proceeds alone. Thus a UN-sponsored WDC, owned and managed by a dozen or so MNCs with NGO support, will make a marked difference. At a time when big business has been demonized for destroying the environment, enjoying one-sided benefits from globalization, and deceiving investors, the book argues, MNCs have much to gain from becoming more effective in reducing global poverty. This is not a call for philanthropy. Lodge and Wilson believe that corporate support for the World Development Corporation will benefit not only the world's poor but also company shareholders as a result of improved MNC legitimacy and stronger markets and profitability.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- List of Abbreviations -- Prologue -- Part I. The Legitimacy Gap -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The Legitimacy of Business -- Part II. Reactions, Responses, and Responsibilities -- 3. NGOs and the Attack: Critics, Watchdogs, and Collaborators -- 4. The Corporate Response -- 5. International Development Architecture -- 6. The Emerging International Consensus -- Part III. Global Poverty Reduction and the Role of Big Business -- 7. The Options for Business Contributions -- 8. A World Development Corporation -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index