UNRISD Deputy Director to present on “Globalisation, Business Regulation and Social Development” at University of Puerto Rico

On 3 April 2009, UNRISD Deputy Director, Peter Utting, will give a lecture to a Doctoral seminar at the Graduate Business Management School on the topic of “Globalization, Business Regulation and Social Development” at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

As a result of policy and institutional changes related to economic liberalization, privatization, commodification, and new approaches to regulation and governance, the relations between business and state and the role of the market in social development have undergone profound changes in recent decades. The implications of these developments for social well-being, equity and democratic governance are profound. This therefore has been the focus of research under the UNRISD programme on Markets, Business and Regulation since 2005.

Through the lecture at UPR, Peter will address the following three points: how and why state-business relations are changing in contexts of globalization and liberalization; new forms of (private) business regulation; and the potential and limits of "corporate social responsibility" (CSR) from the perspective of both human development and democratic governance.