ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at different ways of understanding the role of business in a modern economy, and the implications this has for business ethics, the appropriate scope and nature of government regulation, and the business ethics of rent seeking. It links the questions of business ethics and regulation to rent seeking—a prominent but controversial form of business engagement with the regulatory process. Views of the role of business ethics in the economy—positive and normative—vary considerably from one part of the social science literature to another. Rent seeking constitutes one of the most prominent and controversial forms of business engagement in politics and policy-making. In a context in which regulation is at least partially embraced by government, businesses have to decide how they are to deal with the regulatory process. The relationship between government and business is an essential feature of the modern economy.
