ABSTRACT
In 1776, Adam Smith wrote the seminal treatise that laid the foundations for modern capitalism, asserting that individuals should have the freedom to conduct their economic affairs as they see fit. There is little doubt that market-oriented economics have dominated the international business landscape since the early 1980s, taking over from earlier paradigms that tended to be more accepting of state “interventionism”. In 1968, University of California at Santa Barbara Professor Garrett Hardin wrote a seminal text in modern environmental economics, postulating a “tragedy of the commons” situation in which individual shepherds discover open meadows where their herds can graze for free, something each understandably wants to do. Some good work has therefore been achieved developing theories specific to “ecological economics”, a more narrowly focused sub-discipline than “environmental economics”. Environmental policy frameworks determine a whole range of corporate rights, opportunities and obligations. At the narrower level of national governance, green policy-making depends on a whole slew of factors.
