ABSTRACT
This chapter examines several approaches to business-government relations. It investigates three common approaches: noninterference of the government; checking the exploitative power of business; the mixed role of government in the economy. The shareholder model sets the corporation at the center of a set of mutual relationships with persons and groups. It promotes the idea that firms have ethical duties and social responsibilities toward a wide range of shareholders due to their impacts on them. The basic role of the government according to the regulatory state model is to lessen the negative results of market activity without losing the benefits of a completive market. The strategic approach accepts the role of government as a given and generally utilizes the many opportunities to prosper from the sale of products and services, via various types of cooperation with government. The corporate governance theory postulates that companies play a critical role in the governance of any economy.
