School of International Development - UEA: Business, accountability, regulation and development

The private sector is increasingly seen as playing a central role in international development.  However with the demise of the Washington Consensus there is also a recognition that the free market will not necessarily bring about the desired developmental outcomes in terms of poverty reduction, environmental sustainability or the protection of human rights, including labour rights. 

The last decade has seen a growing concern with Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Accountability in the context of developing countries.  In the past the focus has been mainly on environmental and labour issues, but this is likely to broaden in the future to include issues such as human rights and taxation.  There is also a shift away from the emphasis on self-regulation implicit in the voluntary approach to CSR to a greater emphasis on regulation at both the national and international level.  The balance between state and private regulation and the role of joint public-private initiatives are likely to be important issues.

State obligations under international law to progressively realise economic, social and cultural rights are also important. These obligations require effective and appropriate regulation and taxation of the private sector, and public sector provision where necessary. It is important that these obligations are monitored closely and effectively, in order to prevent accountability

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Research in the School has helped develop a critical perspective on the role of business in development addressing environmental, labour and human rights dimensions.  This research provides a development rather than a business perspective, going beyond a focus on the “business case” for CSR, to analyse the role of business in society much more broadly.

Current research by Rhys Jenkins and Peter Newell is focusing on taxation as a CSR issue. Current research by Edward Anderson focuses on how official monitoring bodies and advocacy groups might go about assessing government efforts to progressively realise economic, social and cultural rights, in a way which takes resource constraints into account.

The School provides a module on “CSR in a Global Context” as part of UEA’s innovative MBA in Strategic Carbon Management. The group is also a co-organiser with Middlesex University Business School and the Smith School, University of Oxford of an ESRC funded Research Seminar series on “Corporate Social Responsibility and Development”.

Testing the capacity defence: A quantitative assessment of municipal compliance with the right to water and sanitation in South Africa 

Researchers: Edward Anderson (DEV), Malcolm Langford (Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo)

A common defence to the failure to progressively realise economic and social rights is the lack of financial resources. This research project uses quantitative techniques to test whether this capacity defence can hold for local municipalities delivering water and sanitation services in South Africa. In particular, are delays in providing access to affordable water and sanitation for all a matter of inadequate resources, or do they reflect an absence of political will and poor prioritisation?
 

Natalia Alvarez Molinero, Lecturer in Human Rights and International Development (DEV)

Edward Anderson, Lecturer in Development Economics (DEV)

Rhys Jenkins, Professor of Development Economics (DEV)

Peter Newell,  Professor of Development Studies (DEV)

Elissaios Papyrakis, Lecturer in Economics (DEV)

Current and recent postgraduate researchers

Manuel Araujo: Promoting Employment Through Foreign Direct Investment: The Case of Post-war Mozambique

Ben Taylor: Ethiopia's Growth Set to Bloom? A GPN Analysis of Ethiopian Floriculture