Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/88726

This paper proposes a concept termed“ethical economic activity,”which means economic activities that aim to contribute to society or environmental conservation through corporate management or consumption, and examines what kind of approach can promote social consensus about the morality of ethical economic activity. The market failures approach by Heath is introduced to consider how economic activities come to have morality. Based on this approach, profit maximization strategies that utilize market imperfections are judged to lack morality. Then, Senʼs“realization-focused comparison”approach, which aims to correct injustice, and“public deliberation,”which promotes realization-focused comparison, are introduced and public deliberation is shown to be necessary to evaluate economic externalities. Then the role of corporations as an intermediary of public deliberation is shown through the discussion by Herrmann-Pillath and Boldyrev. Finally, to make a baseline for implementing realization-focused comparison, this paper proposes an evaluative framework for ethical economic activities by corporations.