First Post - December 2011

Welcome -- this first post is not a substantive one. My role at Oxford Analytica involves daily forward-looking analysis on events, issues and trends (in my case, in sub-Saharan Africa) at the intersection of politics and economics, for a range of private and public sector clients. It also involves tailored advice, including on the issues at the heart of this blog:

* What are the changing social and political expectations of business and the private sector?
* How can public policy promote responsible business conduct, mitigating social and environmental harms while harnessing the strengths of business for achieving public goals?
* How can a better understanding of the social, political and regulatory context for business activities  help create value and minimise harms -- for businesses, governments, communities?

Well, big issues: this is just a blog -- a space for occasional thoughts -- and just a first post.

This blog is called 'Private Sector - Public World'. This is a blog, not a thesis, but some early points are worth making. First, we understand better when we think of sectors, not 'the private sector' -- even within something like 'the oil and gas sector', firms differ widely on things like susceptibility to reputational harm. It is one theme I'm sure the blog will revisit.

Second, the blog will deal with issues marked by a blurred or shifting line: what is 'public' and what 'private'? What private commercial activity is properly a matter for the public interest? The legal personality, protections and privileges afforded to private entities are essential to commerce, and so to progress and prosperity. However, the private sector operates in a public world. In general, I take it that a view like Parker's ('Open Corporation' 2002) is -- or will become -- axiomatic. That is, private sector freedom of action is conditional - it is subject to what is in the wider public interest. Firms that prosper in the 21st Century -- or perhaps those that deserve to do so -- will be ones that appreciate this and adapt accordingly. Public policy will still be tested, since private actors have a role in shaping what that policy should be, or how well it works. To what extent public policy is shaped by private influence is part of these debates. So is the fact that many of the entities involved in 'private' enterprises like mining in sub-Saharan Africa are state-owned firms: 'state capitalism' trends are inseparable from any contemporary understanding of the public-private divide.

The blog has sub-Saharan Africa as a focus. As in other parts of the world, sometimes the problem is not that the private sector is not regulated enough, but too much; the problem often is not the inability of the state to regulate responsible business conduct, but over-regulation or predatory / arbitrary 'regulation' undermining the ability of businesses to operate. The blog will also discuss how for many businesspeople and firms, the practical question is not whether regulation is or is not warranted; it is dealing with how to account for issues in the 'public' sphere in a way that helps safeguard investments, minimise reputational harm, and so on.

A blog can become about everything, and therefore nothing. This one aims to offer some occasional thoughts on what I think are some interesting issues for our times: what are the norms and values that become the standards by which we judge whether business is 'responsible'? What role is there for the private sector in delivering public goals, and what is appropriate for public institutions in engaging private actors in such processes? Does promoting self-regulation by business help or hinder the development of clearer standards? How can we find common solutions while accepting that there are (and should be) limits to the public role that the private sector should play or be expected to play?

I also blog periodically on the Royal Africa Society's 'Business Africa' blog.