Economics, Governance & Business Ethics

Course goals

Learning objectives

Content

What is the relevance of ethics to economic activities in this day and age?

In recent decades, economics has developed into a powerful, influential, and often controversial science. Following the neoclassical approach to individual optimisation and decision making, the approach has provided the foundations of the current economic order, largely along the lines of market capitalism. At this point in your study programme, you will have familiarised yourself with the mainstream economic theories in courses such as Microeconomics, Institutions & Welfare, and will continue to do so in the advanced courses. You will gain an understanding of the powerful toolkit of mainstream economics, enabling  you to critically analyse individuals, society, and the logic of capitalism.

Nevertheless, the mainstream economic view of individual behaviour and social order is not the only perspective. Existing business and economic practices have been widely criticised for their constraints and drawbacks, as well as for the opportunities they present for improvement. Although these issues have been analysed extensively, global challenges such as climate change, natural resource depletion and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic, together with a growing number of significant business frauds and ethical lapses, make the need for reflection and reform increasingly urgent.

In this course, we explore ethics by examining different ethical theories that frame decision-making and their influence on economics, governance and business. The course follows the multidisciplinary approach adopted by the Utrecht University School of Economics in its bachelor program to broaden students’ perspectives on economics and society, which means this course embraces a Real World Perspective. Further, the course takes a similar approach to the one taken in Multidisciplinary Economics, assuming that students have developed sufficient knowledge of the fundamentals of economic thinking. In this course, students are encouraged to reflect on this knowledge and to discuss alternative approaches to doing business.

Topics and Themes
This course focuses on sustainability and the relationship between business, technology and society. We examine the social impacts of business and explore various themes such as fairness, equality, social responsibility, and sustainability through the lens of ethics. We also consider how  technological advancements may enhance or undermine the positive impact of business.

Selected course topics include the following:

• An introduction to ethical frameworks in business
• Ethical decision-making
• Ethics and governance
• Corporate governance and shareholder theory
• Stakeholder theory and corporate social responsibility
• Environmental economics and sustainability
• Emerging issues in business ethics and economics (e.g., AI usage)

Course format Effort requirements
Presence is expected in all lectures and tutorials, with an 80% minimum attendance requirement for both lectures and tutorials to qualify for an exam re-sit, if necessary.

Academic skills