RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Darrell M. West, December 14, 2011, The Brookings Institution
Darrell West examines the history of corporations in the United States, including special privileges they were given as incentive for accomplishing public purposes. West discusses whether the focus has shifted too much toward maximizing short-term shareholder profits, something a new project at Brookings on the purpose of the corporation will analyze. Read More
PAST EVENT
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Washington, DC
Since the inception of the corporation, policymakers have debated to what degree corporations should be held to a standard of social responsibility. This issue is particularly relevant given the fragile state of the American economy and public concerns regarding economic opportunity. On December 13, Governance Studies at Brookings hosted the first in a series of lectures examining the corporation in American society, how we think about corporate obligations and responsibilities, and how companies affect society, commerce and government. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Kevin Watkins, November 2011, The Bellagio Initiative
While progress toward international development goals in areas such as poverty reduction, nutrition, child survival and maternal health has fallen short of targets set for 2015, Kevin Watkins argues that without progress on universal education, attempting to address wider challenges facing governments around the world will be in vain. Read More
PAST EVENT
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
1:00 PM to 2:30 PM
Washington, DC
As corporations are finding that they can help encourage economic growth and development in the poorest of countries, the private sector is poised to tackle development differently by taking a market-based approach while partnering with traditional development players. On November 1, Global Economy and Development at Brookings will host a discussion on the role of the private sector in sustainable development. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Justin W. van Fleet, July 12, 2011, The Brookings Institution
At a high-level side event with business leaders and government officials held at this year's United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Annual Ministerial Review, Justin van Fleet discussed the challenges and opportunities for corporate engagement in education, and argued that better collaboration between sectors could have an enormous impact. Read More
VIDEO
Justin W. van Fleet, June 10, 2011
Collectively, major U.S. corporations donate nearly a half billion dollars to help promote education in developing countries. However, as Justin van Fleet explains, if corporate philanthropy is going to work, companies need to analyze how and where their efforts may fall short.
PAST EVENT
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
10:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Washington, DC
The crisis of global education financing has prompted many to ask whether the international community can harness corporate money and resources to support education in developing countries. However, little data exists about how multinational companies currently engage in funding global education and the rationale behind these investments. On April 6, the Center for Universal Education hosted the launch of its new report, which examines the corporate giving patterns of U.S. companies and offers an overall assessment of corporate giving to education around the world. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Justin W. van Fleet and Rebecca Winthrop, March 31, 2011, The Brookings Institution
In a recent study conducted by the Center for Universal Education, findings show American corporations contribute nearly half a billion dollars for education in developing countries every year. Their financial contributions are hugely significant, making them collectively the seventh largest donor in the world. Justin van Fleet and Rebecca Winthrop explore how corporate philanthropy is enhancing global education. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Justin W. van Fleet, March 31, 2011, The Brookings Institution
1.3 billion young people in the world between the ages of 12-24 live in developing countries and suffer from a lack of education. Justin van Fleet conducted in-depth interviews with corporate philanthropy leaders, and surveyed nearly 150 U.S. companies, to uncover how much Corporate America contributes to education worldwide each year, and how these contributions can increase shared value for the company and society. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William A. Galston, September 28, 2010, The New Republic
William Galston comments on D. Keith Johnson’s testimony to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which stated that almost half of the mortgages his company examined in 2006 and 2007 "failed to meet crucial quality benchmarks that banks had promised to investors." If that is accurate, then we have entered the realm of fraud, misrepresentation and reckless endangerment of our entire economic and social fabric, Galston contends. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William A. Galston, May 04, 2010, The New Republic
While it may take months to stop the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, William Galston writes that it’s not too soon to begin asking some questions about why it happened and what can be done to minimize the chance that something like this will happen again. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
David L. Caprara and Stanley S. Litow, April 27, 2010, The Brookings Institution
Over 200 delegates from 50 countries gather this week in Washington for the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship. Brookings expert David Caprara and Stanley S. Litow, President of the IBM International Foundation, discuss ways that highly-skilled experts can volunteer their time in emerging markets to help improve economic development, government services and stimulate job growth. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Ehaab Abdou, Amina Fahmy, Diana Greenwald and Jane Nelson, April 2010, The Brookings Institution
Within the evolving ecosystem of development players, social entrepreneurship is emerging as one model to support youth development and employment in the Middle East while also tackling some of the region's other long-term development challenges, according to a new Middle East Youth Initiative-Silatech report. Read More
PAST EVENT
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Washington, DC
On February 23, the Middle East Youth Initiative and the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government convened a group of over 40 policy makers, international donors, private sector and civil society leaders to discuss the state of social entrepreneurship and corporate social engagement in the Middle East. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Thomas E. Mann, January 26, 2010, McClatchy Newspapers
The recent decision in Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission will likely go down in history as one of the Supreme Court's most egregious exercises of judicial activism when it ruled the ban on corporate treasury funding of independent political campaigns was unconstitutional, writes Thomas Mann. As a result, Mann encourages the proliferation of small donors to balance the political spending by corporations. Read More