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Previous studies of business‐government relations have tended to take either a macro approach (using a single theoretical framework to explain all business‐government relations) or a micro approach (one that fails to explain why business‐government relations have not improved over time). This article applies Lowi′s four‐part typology of policy types. In order to test the typology′s usefulness, a survey of business executives and government officials was carried out. The findings confirmed the thesis: business satisfaction with its relationship to government will be highest in the case of distributive policies, and decline to lowest in the case of constituent policies. A “meso‐level” theoretical framework is recommended to provide not only a better understanding of the multi‐levelled character of business‐government relations, but also future research with a practical orientation.

This paper examines the evolution of two separate fields, which are essentially concerned with the same issues but are framed by different academic and professional disciplines and practice. It appears that public affairs management researchers often fail to take into account parallel literature from the discipline of public relations — even when purporting to offer an interdisciplinary approach. Equally, the public relations literature frequently fails to speak the language of business management and narrowly defines such key business activities as marketing, policy and strategy. In this paper, the authors present evidence prescribing the differing evolution of public affairs and public relations. They compare and contrast public affairs and public relations in terms of their definitions, scholarship, survey evidence, leading writers, academic and professional associations and educational programme content. They conclude by offering several suggestions for closing the gap between the two areas.

In a globalized world where emerging markets are more important than ever, there is an increasing pressure on international businesses and governments to work together. The set of facilities known as commercial diplomacy combines the interests of both by highlighting new markets and investment opportunities.

In this chapter, we present a literature review based on 56 relevant publications to assess what we currently know of this important activity.

The results indicate that research on commercial diplomacy consists of many subtopics, resulting in a patchy understanding of the topic as a whole.

We discuss why integrative research focusing on the business–government relationship and the organization and the value of commercial diplomacy are needed from an international business perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of corruption level in steering the business–government relations (BGRs) in developing countries. It also examines the moderating effect of firm size.

Using robust tobit and probit models, this study tests the response behavior of 9787 firms from 23 African countries to their government's policy and regulations and the direct effect of corruption control level in their response decisions. The authors also perform several other additional analyses to ensure the robustness of the findings, including change analysis, two-stage model and recursive bivariate model.

The result shows that corruption level is among the significant factors that drive BGRs exponentially. The finding points out that, there is a strong alliance of business and government in more corrupt countries. Moreover, the impact of corruption level exacerbates when the firm is bigger.

Managers should focus more on activities that create long-term sustainable advantage. Valuable time of the senior managers should not waste on negotiating government policies to earn a short term advantages.

It is evident that legal and transparent government alliances can lead to economic rent for firms. However, it is important to note that any alliance based on corruption and illegality is short-lived and ultimately detrimental to long-term prosperity. Therefore, it is crucial for firms to prioritize ethical business practices and build relationships with governments that prioritize transparency and accountability.

Given the detrimental impact of corruption on economic progress, it is crucial for Africa policy-makers to prioritize reforms aimed at reducing its adverse effect. By implementing ethical and transparent business practices, countries can attract more investment and promote economic growth.

This study contributes to the existing literature on the passive form of political connectivity/activity and to what extend corruption level affect the political activities of firms.

Parallel with business and society relationships, the business and government relationship needs greater attention. Business and government relations beyond short‐term lobbying could be seen as a strategic activity aimed at creating sustainable value for the company. As such it would become much easier to achieve competitive advantage and align the company's commercial with the public interest. This paper seeks to examine this issue.

The paper aims to scan the issue with a view to further research.

The economic crisis and the imminent new wave of regulation make a new approach to lobbying more pressing.

The paper is based on political and economic writings and on practical experience in the public and private sector.

International business theory leans heavily on neoclassical economics, ignoring its unrealistic assumptions and the many changes in the environment. The chapter calls for a revision of the theory to a contingency theory. The major contingent elements analysed are the political system, business–government and NGOs relations, industries, regimes, ownership patterns, the degree of reliance on ethical behaviour, the institutional environment and social norms.

Managing the interface between the corporation and government has become one of the most rapidly growing management areas. The examination, evaluation and teaching of this aspect has been the work of the Max Bell Business‐Government Studies Programme at York University in Canada. The author describes the work of the programme to date and pays particular attention to the research being undertaken. The Programme has established itself as a major force in research and teaching in this area in Canada. The way in which both the public and private sectors can operate in the best interests of society as a whole is important to all.

This paper aims to problematize existing conceptualization of corruption by presenting alternative perspectives on corruption in Indonesia through the lens of national/cultural identity, amidst claims of the pervasiveness of corruption in the country. In so doing, the paper also sheds light on the micro-processes of interactions between global and local discourses in postcolonial settings.

The study applies discourse analysis, involving in-depth interviews with 40 informants from the business sector, government institutions and anti-corruption agencies.

The findings suggest that corruption helps government function, preserves livelihoods of the marginalized segments of societies and maintains social obligations/relations. These alternative meanings of corruption persist despite often seen as less legitimate due to effects of colonial powers.

The snowballing method of recruiting informants is one of the limitations of this paper, which may decrease the potential diversity and lead to the silencing of different stories (Schwartz-Shea and Yanow, 2013). Researchers need to contextualize corruption and study its varied meanings to reveal its social, historical and political dimensions.

This paper strongly suggests that we need to move beyond rationalist accounts to capture the varied meanings of corruption which may be useful to explain the limited results of existing anti-corruption efforts.

This study calls for a greater use of qualitative methods to study broad social change programs such as anti-corruption from the perspective of the insiders.

This paper contributes to the discussion of agency at the interplay between the dominant and alternative discourses in postcolonial settings. Moreover, the alternative meanings of corruption embedded in constructions of national identity and care ethics discussed in this paper offer as a starting point for decolonizing (Westwood, 2006) anti-corruption theory and practice.

“There's a hole in the ship of free enterprise and I see torpedoes ahead,” graphically explained one CEO to the authors of this work. His concern about the future course of business‐government relations is widely shared by many Fortune 500 CEOs.

Stephen Kobrin's contributions to international management scholarship are highly influential to the field as it has evolved over the past four decades. They include important insights into political risk, business–government relations, FDI theory and corporate social responsibility. His most recent work has leveraged historical perspectives to inform the emerging nature of the global business environment, with particular attention to the emergence of a globally networked economy and its implications for the range of stakeholders – business, government, non-governmental organizations and citizens. In this chapter, I reflect on Kobrin's contributions from the past to the present, summarizing some of the most important and substantial contributions and offering personal reflections on how those insights have affected the field and leading scholars within it.