ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the agents and catalysts for change in the nature of, and forum for, governance discourse and innovations in disclosure relating to the ethical dimensions of governance. It explores the appearance in the explicit 'public good' policy objectives relating to the ethical, environmental and social dimensions of corporate behaviour—that is, corporate governance broadly defined—in legislation and formal regulation of business conduct. Companies selected for the KLD 400 must have positive social and environmental records according to criteria based on community relations, diversity, employee relations, human rights, product quality and safety, and environment and corporate governance. However, the risks, extent of impact and costs of failures or mismanagement of environmental, social and governance factors are increasing, with significant implications for companies’ financial and competitive. In some jurisdictions building the capacity to understand and calculate the environmental, social and governance as well as economic performance of business enterprise has become an imperative.
