Introduction
The dichotomy between business and law has played an important role in the establishment of business ethics, both as a study and a practice. In the past, the dogmatic adherence to the shareholder primacy theory of corporate governance has resulted in managers pursuing economic profit without regard for ethical implications of their conduct or consequence on stakeholder interests. Reports of events such as industrial accidents, corporate bribery, and workers rights’ violations sparked concern for the impact of business activity and, implicitly, the rules that guided the behavior of corporate decision-makers.
On the one hand, national governments have sought to contain the negative consequences of business with country-specific laws aimed at protecting the natural environment, safeguarding vulnerable categories of people, and boosting investor and public confidence in business. On the...
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Piccolo, K. (2021). Business, Law, and Codes of Ethics. In: Poff, D.C., Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Ethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23514-1_1280-1
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