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1 – 10 of 24Walid El Hamad, Lee Moerman and Sanja Pupovac
This paper aims to use rhetorical theory to understand how actors mobilise persuasive communication to justify the arguments for and against transfer pricing and tax management…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to use rhetorical theory to understand how actors mobilise persuasive communication to justify the arguments for and against transfer pricing and tax management schemes in an international context. The strategic adoption of transfer pricing by transnational corporations is controversial since it affects wealth transfers.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts a micro-rhetorical analysis of submissions to a recent government Inquiry in Australia based on Aristotle's appeals of logos, ethos and pathos. The arguments used by Chevron Australia, and its protagonist civil society organisation, the Tax Justice Network highlight the vexed nature of tax management schemes.
Findings
Transfer pricing (TP) is more than a mere technical practice, as it involves wealth transfers initiated by powerful economic players. From a neoliberal justification of fair markets and shareholder wealth maximisation, the moral ambiguity is attenuated because it is accepted as a normative social ideal.
Originality/value
Prior studies on TP and tax schemes are primarily theoretical and conceptual. This paper adopts a rhetorical approach which provides important insights into the communication devices used to legitimate taken-for-granted ideas about corporate actions.
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Jane Andrew and Max Baker
This study explores a hegemonic alliance and the role of relational forms of accounting and accountablity in the making of contemporary capitalism.
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores a hegemonic alliance and the role of relational forms of accounting and accountablity in the making of contemporary capitalism.
Design/methodology/approach
We use the WikiLeaks “Cablegate” documents to provide an account of the detailed machinations between interest groups (corporations and the state) that are constitutive of hegemonic activity.
Findings
Our analysis of the “Cablegate” documents shows that the US and Chevron were crafting a central role for Turkmenistan and its president on the global political stage as early as 2007, despite offical reporting beginning only in 2009. The documents exemplify how “accountability gaps” occlude the understanding of interdependence between capital and the state.
Research limitations/implications
The study contributes to a growing idea that official accounts offer a fictionalized narrative of corporations as existing independently, and thus expands the boundaries associated with studying multinational corporate activities to include their interdependencies with the modern state.
Social implications
The study traces how global capitalism extends into new territories through diplomatic channels, as a strategic initiative between powerful state and capital interests, arguing that the outcome is the empowerment of authoritarian states at the cost of democracy.
Originality/value
The study argues that previous accounting and accountability research has overlooked the larger picture of how capital and the state work together to secure a mutual hegemonic interest. We advocate for a more complete account of these activities that circumvents official, often restricted, views of global capitalism.
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Sited in Queensland and New South Wales, the four mines will collectively release some 1,250 million tonnes of carbon over their lifetimes, raising doubts about the Albanese…
Details
DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB279458
ISSN: 2633-304X
Keywords
Geographic
Topical
INTERNATIONAL: Upside risks rise for energy prices
Details
DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-ES281821
ISSN: 2633-304X
Keywords
Geographic
Topical
Zayyad Abdul-Baki, Roszaini Haniffa and Ahmed Diab
This study aims to examine whether corporate governance mechanisms – board size, board independence and CEO duality – influence the actions of oil companies operating in Nigeria…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine whether corporate governance mechanisms – board size, board independence and CEO duality – influence the actions of oil companies operating in Nigeria to clean up oil spills from their facilities.
Design/methodology/approach
Both binary logistic regression (linear) and random-effects logistic regression models were used to test three hypotheses using a unique data set of 1,262 oil spill events involving 24 oil companies from 2017 to 2019.
Findings
The study found that board size and board independence are positively related to oil spill cleanup.
Practical implications
Private oil companies in Nigeria should encourage larger and more independent boards in their corporate governance (CG) structures, as these boards may be more effective in serving the interests of stakeholders by bringing diverse knowledge and experience to the boards. Similarly, regulators should extend the enforcement of CG codes to private firms.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the influence of CG attributes on oil spill cleanup.
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Suzette Viviers and Lee-Ann Steenkamp
Given the urgency to address the climate change crisis, the purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of 12 macro-level antecedents on energy and environmental (E&E…
Abstract
Purpose
Given the urgency to address the climate change crisis, the purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of 12 macro-level antecedents on energy and environmental (E&E) shareholder activism in 12 developed countries. Focus was placed on shareholder-initiated E&E resolutions.
Design/methodology/approach
Panel regressions were used to evaluate the relationships between the macro-level antecedents and two dependent variables, namely, the number of shareholder-initiated E&E resolutions filed and voting support for these resolutions.
Findings
The number of shareholder-initiated E&E resolutions filed increased slightly over the research period (2010–2019) but received very little voting support on average. Most of the 1,116 considered resolutions centred on the adoption or amendment of nuclear and environmental policies. Several resolutions called for improved E&E reporting. A significant relationship was found between the number of shareholder-initiated E&E resolutions filed and the rule of law.
Research limitations/implications
The empirical evidence confirmed limited voting support for shareholder-initiated E&E resolutions and the importance of the rule of law in advancing the E&E social movement.
Practical implications
As the E&E social movement is gaining momentum, listed companies in the considered countries are likely to experience more pressure from shareholder activists.
Social implications
To achieve participatory and inclusive climate governance, shareholder activists should collaborate more closely with other challengers in the E&E social movement, notably policy makers and those promoting the rule of law.
Originality/value
The authors considered macro-level antecedents of E&E shareholder activism that have received scant attention in earlier studies. Social movement theory was used as a novel theoretical lens.
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International evidence of corporate demand for ‘aesthetic labour’ has stimulated a growing and important literature on the strategic, commercial, legal, gendered and ethical…
Abstract
International evidence of corporate demand for ‘aesthetic labour’ has stimulated a growing and important literature on the strategic, commercial, legal, gendered and ethical aspects of this labour process (see Spiess & Waring, 2005; Warhurst & Nickson, 2009; Warhurst et al., 2000; Waring, 2011; Witz et al., 2003). There is some evidence to suggest that the growth in ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ strategies and practices by larger firms provides a level of recognition of the need to avoid discriminatory practices based on the physical characteristics of employees whether these be overt, structural or as a result of unconscious bias. It is argued that the emergence of ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ strategies are not just in response to regulatory demands or an enlightened ‘character over characteristics’ approach to hiring, but stems from a desire to meet contemporary Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expectations. In turn this corporate motivation is frequently driven by commercial concerns such as the need to attract and retain capital and talent.
In this chapter, the intersection of aesthetic labour, appearance-based discrimination, corporate Diversity and Inclusion strategies and CSR is explored. Through the examination of Fortune 500 ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ strategies and approaches to CSR, the intent behind the resourcing of ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ and its relationship to CSR is critically assessed. This critical assessment discloses both genuine efforts to reject unethical forms of ‘lookism’ or ‘appearance-based discrimination’ but also several contradictions. These include contradictions between the rhetoric of diversity and CSR and the continuation of aesthetic labour strategies for commercial advantage. Further, the research finds that the physical representation of ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ efforts are sometimes themselves exploited for commercial gain.
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In this paper, I explore what shapes the identities of digital nomads (DNs), a class of remote workers who travel and work concurrently. Through extensive fieldwork and interviews…
Abstract
In this paper, I explore what shapes the identities of digital nomads (DNs), a class of remote workers who travel and work concurrently. Through extensive fieldwork and interviews with 50 digital nomads conducted in seven coworking hostels in Mexico in 2022, I construct a theory of DN identity. I base this upon the frequent transformations they undergo in their Circumstances, which regularly change their worker identity.
DNs relinquish traditional social determinants of identity, such as nationality and religion. They define their personal identities by their passions and interests, which are influenced by the people they meet. DNs exist in inherently transitive social spaces and, without rigid social roles to fulfil, they represent themselves authentically. They form close relationships with other long-term travellers to combat loneliness and homesickness. Digital nomads define their worker identities around their location independence. This study shows that DNs value their nomadic lifestyle above promotions and financial gain. They define themselves by productivity and professionalism to ensure the sustainability of their lifestyle. Furthermore, digital nomad coworking hubs serve focused, individual work, leaving workplace politics and strict ‘office image’ norms behind. Without fixed social and professional roles to play, digital nomads define themselves personally according to their ever-evolving passions and the sustainability of their nomadic life. Based on these findings, I present a cyclical framework for DN identity evolution which demonstrates how relational, logistical, and socio-personal flux evolves DN’s worker identities.
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Lorenzo Natali, Anna Berti Suman and Marília de Nardin Budó
This chapter explores how coming into contact with the narratives of environmental victims helps to develop different forms of reflexivity useful for imagining and confronting…
Abstract
This chapter explores how coming into contact with the narratives of environmental victims helps to develop different forms of reflexivity useful for imagining and confronting environmental crises. The generation and sharing of environmental data and of visual and narrative experiences of lived environmental harms by ‘ordinary people’ amounts to more than merely supplying robust data to fellow citizens, scientists and decision-makers. It is also a proactive claim for social and environmental justice, especially when these people are silenced or even criminalised. While forms of civic monitoring can be regarded as a contribution to environmental governance, they have instead often been labelled as ‘subversive’ or illegal practices. In this contribution, the authors explore how ‘green’ activist criminology may help in the challenge to have these voices enabled and listened. The challenge has to be taken up by developing an active listening attitude towards the voices of people (‘folk voices’) affected by/exposed to environmental harms, enhancing visual imagination and complexity about the contested notion of the environmental victim, together with new ways of taking care and a new paradigm of the ‘active victim’. In the conclusion, the authors acknowledge the potential of an art-based inquiry that is inclusive of civic imaginaries and knowledge. However, they also stress that cultural barriers and ideologies may hamper this potential. Critical attitude and integrity of any scientific approach should be sought and preserved.
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