What we study
Research themes
The project spans strategy, ethics, law, economics, and political theory.
Forces that politicize business
A taxonomy of the pressures — activist campaigns, customer pressure, employee pressure, government pressure, and owner / institutional-investor pressure — that draw firms into political conflict.
ESG and asset-manager capitalism
How environmental, social, and governance mandates and concentrated asset management reshape corporate purpose and accountability.
Debanking, fair access, and common carriage
Access to financial services and the case for common-carriage and fair-access frameworks.
Corporate and employee political speech
When firms and their employees speak politically — and the limits of policing extramural speech.
Moral grandstanding and values in advertising
The uses and abuses of moral talk in corporate communication and marketing.
Morally contested (“repugnant”) markets
The ethics and economics of markets many find objectionable.
Corporate disobedience
The ethics of firms resisting or declining to comply with law.
Policy tools
Neutrality pledges, the Fair Access to Financial Services rule, and other instruments for addressing politicization.
Selected work
Publications
ESG and Asset Manager Capitalism
Paul Forrester · Business Ethics Quarterly
The Rise of Corporate Activism: Causes and Consequences
Siri Terjesen & Michael Ryall · The Independent Review
When Is Corporate Social Responsibility Theft?
Mark Packard, Allison Mendenhall & Siri Terjesen · The Independent Review
Glass Houses: Choosing Grace in a Judgmental World
Jason Brennan · Oxford University Press (book) · 2026