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The limits to corporate social responsibility
(The University of Waikato, 2026-09-29) Pagani, John; Barton, Barry; Alvarez-Jimenez, Alberto
This thesis asks what limits New Zealand law places on the scope of corporate social responsibility (CSR). It asks how far directors may go with shareholders’ funds, how they should choose between competing social and environmental purposes, and when shareholders or stakeholders can hold them to account. I conclude that CSR is concerned with outcomes for the firm rather than for society. New Zealand law adopts neither profit maximisation nor stakeholder theories of social responsibility. The entity primacy model means that the most important limit on CSR is the duty to act in good faith in the best interests of the company. Stakeholder interests may be considered to the extent that they are instrumental to the company’s success. A firm may voluntarily pursue wider social and environmental stakeholder interests at cost to the value of the firm when its constitution or business context allows. Social norms and community expectations form part of directors’ duty to act in the company’s best interests. I show that stakeholders and their interests cannot be adequately identified. One consequence is that accountability for decisions and for outcomes may be reduced when stakeholder interests are considered. If a recent amendment to directors’ duties allows discretion to sacrifice firm value for undefined social outcomes, then corporate value will be affected even if the discretion is never exercised. I analyse theories that argue CSR is largely presentational and alternatively that existing legal tools can be used to make social responsibility commitments effective. By comparing those theories to examples of CSR instruments, I find support for both theories. CSR cannot be defined with sufficient precision to measure its effectiveness. Therefore, CSR cannot be shown to produce better social outcomes than alternative models such as regulation, and claims that investors can ‘do well by doing good’ cannot be supported. Stakeholders cannot use remedies in the Companies Act 1993, but anti-social behaviour may be reviewable and shareholders have remedies for decisions that are not rationally connected to the purpose of the business.
Involvement in political issues by people living in the Te Aroha district
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
As only a minority of residents were enthusiastically interested in national political issues, efforts to encourage debates about such issues by forming clubs largely failed. There was much more interest in local politics, where many of the conflicts were personal rather than political. Many illustrations are given of the fervent patriotism of residents and of their loyalty to queen and empire, which included support for all the empire’s wars. Both the Boer War and the First World War provoked much patriotic fervour, those who did not fight doing their best to assist the cause of empire by fund-raising. In the former war, disapproval of ‘pro-Boers’ was common, but the right of ‘non-Britishers’ to dissent was supported by some residents. When the Dreyfus affair was at its height, Te Aroha achieved considerable notoriety for its method of supporting this unjustly accused man. Concerning Ireland, many supported the downtrodden Irish by contributing funds to assist evicted peasants. Examples are given of those who supported the liberal and conservative sides in national politics. Some of those involved in the mining industry stood for parliament before withdrawing in favour of more prominent politicians, and 13 investors became Members of Parliament.
James Gordon: a ‘useful all-round man’ at Te Aroha and elsewhere
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
Some confusion over the early details of James Gordon’s life is unavoidable because his birth was not registered and there were several namesakes. Born to an Irish father and a Maori mother, after the latter reputedly abandoned her family his father remarried and Gordon was brought up by an uncle. Typically, he had a variety of jobs, though after the Thames goldfield opened mining was his main occupation; and like so many prospectors and miners, he exaggerated his involvement, which was minor and brought him little financial reward. Consequently, he took whatever job was available, becoming known as a ‘useful all-round man’, capable of doing almost any physical work. His financial state was revealed by his being sued, regularly, for small debts – and he tried to evade maintenance payments despite having the ability to pay. Gordon identified with his Pakeha ancestry, fighting against Maori in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty at a young age and joining the Volunteers in Thames and Te Aroha. The most notable aspect of his life was his marital complications: 18 children from two wives and three from the same number of mistresses. The total number born would have been 22 had he not savagely attacked his first wife, causing a stillbirth and, eventually, a divorce, though the latter was mostly in consequence of his being convicted for child molestation. In most other ways, his life was unremarkable.
‘Pakeha Bill’: William John McClear, a Pakeha who lived at Te Aroha
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
Born in Ireland to a Scottish soldier named McAleer, McClear, as he would re-name himself, was uncertain of his age, his birthplace, and the spelling of his name – for, like his parents, he was illiterate. After his drunken father, who abandoned his wife and family, sold him to unknown Maori at an unknown date, he was educated in a Maori school and was unable to speak English until the early 1870s, when he was living with Ngati Rahiri at Omahu pa, at Te Aroha. When Pakeha visitors first met him in 1877, he was a popular resident there and known as Pakeha Bill (or Pakeha William). Possiby involved in mining before the Te Aroha rush, he both invested in and mined in several claims there from 1880 onwards, and at the end of that decade was one of a small group of Waiorongomai miners who took up a claim at Thames. When not mining, he took whatever jobs were available, struggling financially, in part because of a fondness for drink. As, unlike other Pakeha Maori, there was no evidence of his forming a close relationship with any Maori women, he did not benefit from a Maori wife’s landholdings, and he died in poverty.
Thomas Quoi: a Chinese restauranteur who invested in Te Aroha mining
(Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2016) Hart, Philip
After arriving in New Zealand, Thomas Quoi held a variety of jobs, from 1879 onwards being an Auckland restaurant owner and caterer. He was also an interpreter, especially in court cases, and in the twentieth century ran a bathhouse. Despite suffering abuse for being Chinese, he was notable for assisting charities to aid all races. Praised for being Anglicized – a ‘regular white man’ – he was a spokesman for the Chinese community, of which he was a leading member. Quoi’s involvement in Te Aroha mining was limited to providing capital. Like so many investors, he traded in shares and hoped to sell his mining properties to overseas capitalists. In 1890 he went bankrupt, in part because of losing money through his mining investments. Quoi’s personal life became notorious. Accused of sexual immorality and of being a cruel husband to his first wife, an Irishwoman, court cases revealed lurid details of their behaviour. Her infidelity meant he obtained a divorce and was soon married again, to an Englishwoman, with a happier outcome. Socially, and especially through his gambling until his last years he was a prominent member of the community.