Evading Corporate Responsibilities: Evidence from the Shipping Industry

60 Pages Posted: 13 Nov 2020

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: September 25, 2020

Abstract

I show that the maritime shipping industry - handling above 80\% of global trade flows - has evolved over the past decades to systematically evade "corporate responsibilities,'' i.e., compliance with regulatory standards and potential tort liabilities. Shipping firms increasingly dissociated legal and ultimate ownership, fragmented assets in one-ship subsidiaries, used flags of convenience, and evaded end-of-life responsibilities with "last-voyage flags.'' Microeconomic tests confirm that responsibility evasion, amidst global competition, is a dominant motive behind these patterns. These findings have implications for our understanding of corporate social responsibility, of extended forms of liability, and of the "dark side'' of globalization.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility; shipping; flags of convenience; limited liability; subsidiary; globalization

Suggested Citation

Vuillemey, Guillaume, Evading Corporate Responsibilities: Evidence from the Shipping Industry (September 25, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3691188 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3691188

Guillaume Vuillemey (Contact Author)

HEC Paris ( email )

1 rue de la Liberation
Jouy-en-Josas Cedex, 78351
France

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