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Economic efficiency and the quality of life

Rockney Jacobsen

Journal of Business Ethics · 1991 · Volume 10 · Issue 3

DOI: 10.1007/BF00383157

Abstract

A classical moral defense of profit seeking as the social responsibility of business in a competitive market is examined. That defense rests on claims about the directness of relationships between (a) profit seeking activity and standards of living and (b) standards of living and the quality of life. Responses to the classical argument tend to raise doubts about the directness of the first relationship. This essay challenges the directness of the second relationship, argues that the classical argument is invalid, and claims that an alternative description of the social responsibility of business is entailed by the classical premisses.

Keywords

Economic Growth, Social Responsibility, Competitive Market, Economic Efficiency, Alternative Description

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