Elizabeth S. Cooperman
International Review of Accounting, Banking, and Finance, Vol. 10, Issue No. 1/2, Pages: 23-42.
Whether corporations should intervene when governments fail to act on important public issues is an interesting question. With considerable political discord in the US many CEOs have stepped up as social activists by expressing approval or disapproval of public policies providing a platform for discussion to encourage positive government actions. Businesses and major financial institutions have also engaged in environmental activism as well. This paper provides a discussion of a paradigm shift from the single role of corporations to maximize shareholder wealth to considerations for multiple stakeholders, and new roles that CEOs of financial institutions and corporations have taken on including acting as social and ethical mediators for important public policy issues, focusing on key issues in the US