Economy for the Common Good

In the beginning of this century, humanity is at a crossroads where the Boulding’s spaceship “Earth” has begun to become really unstable. On the one hand, it continues with processes and ways of life based on a consumption that does not see the limits of the planet and that affects it both from a social and an environmental point of view. In addition, certain parts of the population, at the moment very reduced, are starting to be more conscious of the problems of existence and with small steps balance the drift of the spaceship “Earth”. From a perspective in which the “Sustainability” is a question of values and consciousness, will be built a normative individual model based on this paradigm. Three elements will be utilized for it: Spiral dynamics, Wilber’s AQAL system (1996) and some theories of human needs. The systemic and complex dimensions of this model will constitute the extrapolated foundations for a normative model in companies and their Corporate Social Responsibility. Finally, the process that happens in a paradigm shift or change of values will be presented, as well as present examples and initiatives that function in the road to Sustainability.

Global change and related phenomena bring different explanatory approaches and strategies for dealing with these issues with them. The strategy of ecological modernization is not broad enough for many authors. It also sees the problems as purely ecological crises and ignores the causal dynamics – the creation and perpetuation of an imperial mode of living through a global, neoliberal capitalism. Therefore, a socio-ecological transformation is seen as required for deal with the social-ecological problems by the degrowth movements.
This view is shared by two Vorarlbergean municipalities, which in 2016 balanced their municipal budgets according to the economy for the common good, a degrowth approach. Their experience with this balancing, the effects of this process and the benefits identified, as well as the significance of this balance sheet, are the subject of this Master's thesis.

Has Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) exhausted all its possibilities as a transforming theory
of the role of companies in the social construction of the XXI Century? Will we be able to achieve
the goals set out in the Global Compact and the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDG)
with the current CSR framework and regulations? These and other questions are asked by MEPs
(Members of European Parliament) and many thinkers, professionals and entrepreneurs in the
world, within the framework of the ideological debate on the economic system, after the long
and deep economic and financial crisis that we are living years ago and the growing social
crisis and environmental issues. In this scenario of doubts and within the framework of the
renewed CSR strategy of the European Union, the European Economic and Social Committee
(EESC) considered in its opinion of 9/17/15 that the model of “Economy for the Common Good
“(ECG) is conceived to be included both in the European legal framework as in the National
ones. The EBG is a proposal for a new economic, social and political model based on essential
values such as solidarity, human dignity, social justice, ecological sustainability and democracy
and transparency. In this article, we will approach the proposal that the Economy for the Common
Good presents as an evolution of the traditional CSR; It is an holistic model based on those
values that transform our current economy and business management, into a more human,
social and conscious one, that is, a model that drives us to manage our organizations taking
into account more parameters than usual: Economic, Social and Environmental sustainability
that encompasses them, in a balanced way.
Key Words: #Corporate Social Responsibility, #Economy for the Common Good, #Sustainable Development Goals, #Global Compact.

Despite increasing scepticism about the conventional growth model, the topic of destabilisation of socioeconomic regimes has not yet captured scholarly interest. This paper addresses this gap and serves a twofold purpose. First, it develops an analytical framework for studying discursive regime destabilisation based on previous research by Turnheim and colleagues. The framework is novel as it allows for: (1) structured analysis of framing interactions between niche and regime actors; (2) visualised mapping of discursive actors; and (3) identification of phases of discursive destabilisation. Second, the paper contributes to the literature on an ongoing practice of socioeconomic transformations by applying the framework to a case study of a social movement organisation, "Economy for the Common Good" (ECG), that seeks to advance socioeconomic transition. The suggested framework was useful for analysing the ECG. First, it demonstrated that niche actors employed mostly motivational and prognostic frames supporting the alternative economic approach, while the regime diffused mostly diagnostic frames focusing on the perceived negative aspects of the niche. Second, by applying the framework, we identified three relevant destabilisation phases in this socioeconomic transformation process: Blindness and Denial, Incremental Responses to Problems and Increasing Doubts and Diversification. We argue that the framing of the niche affects different actor groups differently: while representatives of high authorities remained in the first phase of destabilisation, regional authorities and private companies already appeared at the second and third phases.

The purpose of this paper is the systematic discussion of medieval conceptions of property and wealth, within the general frame of property/poverty disputes and the ensuing legal debate of this era. Thomas Aquinas offered a rational foundation and exposition of property rights derived from his instrumental analysis of the priority of the common good. Other medieval commentators of the Roman law however, spoke of an inner relation between dominium and potestas, arguing for specific property rights sanctioned by civil government secular authority, the latter transforming individual claims to property into legally enforced positive rights, or providing them directly to the individuals. Distinct solutions to the problem of private property reflected the existing transformations of both legal and economic practices; in addition, the ongoing controversies on the origins of property rights prior to the state, had a significant impact on early modern secular and state sovereignty.

Constitutional order implies a robust concept of legal order. The rule of law entails stability, a rational basis in public goods, voluntary compliance based on a shared understanding, formal equality under the law, and the supremacy of law. As the civic republican tradition makes clear, rule of law in this sense is only possible if there are public goods that free markets and nonprofit organisations alone cannot adequately secure. I argue that this includes a wide range of goods with objective values that cannot be measured by consumer demand. The GNH framework supports this conception of public goods and can thus be understood as a contribution to civic republican political thought.

This draft paper, delivered as a talk to a church audience in Hampshire, begins with reflection on the payday lending boom in the UK from 2011-2013, as a case where poor business practice harmed the common good. It then adapts the 2001 framework of Albino F. Barrera (in Modern Catholic Social Documents and Political Economy) to consider how Common Good approaches interact in general with contemporary business practices. It tentatively concludes that a business practice based on integral flourishing of multiple stakeholders interacts positively with a common good framework based on relationships and interdependence.

Voluntary Programs (VPs) are institutions that induce firms to produce public goods beyond the usual command and control system. Drawing from the existing literature concerning VPs, and using as case sample the Economy for the Common Good (ECG) model and firms based in South Tyrol, the research examines primarily tree aspects. First, it addresses firm size and the likelihood to join a VP. Second, it investigates the effects of cooperation among businesses. Finally, it explores the role of the government as tool to engage more firms in VPs. The findings suggest that a generalization of firm size more likely to participate in VPs is not possible and that each VP deserves a proper analysis. Furthermore, it highlights the fact that cooperation among businesses in VPs is still under-researched and deserves more attention in future. Finally, concerning government support, this one did not appear as the main reason for firms to join a VP but it can play a positive role in attracting more participants. This reasearch endeavours to make a contribution to the literature on Voluntary Programs adoption and aimes to identify some aspects that could improve firms engagement in VPs.