Space for stakeholding? Stakeholder capitalism and economic geography

In this paper I review recent stakeholding proposals and critically assess their implications for debates on local and regional economic development. I highlight some of the benefits, tensions, and ambiguities of the stakeholding metaphor, before considering whether it offers a blueprint for the construction of more ethically and socially responsible regional and local economies. I argue that the idea's main limitations stem from its basis in a notion of corporate autonomy which detracts from the diversity of ways in which places and regional contexts condition the range of feasible and beneficial company strategies. The debate highlights the need for more research into how corporate governance affects regional economic fortunes. I criticise stakeholding proposals for implying that the benefits of cooperative economic relations are sufficient to ensure the formation of new industries and new technological trajectories. In the final section of the paper I briefly examine the use of stakeholding in public policy debates in Britain, and the likely geographical consequences. I argue that the use of the term reflects an optimistic communitarianism, and that the benefits of emphasising community participation, rights, and responsibilities should not be used to legitimate a policy abandonment of those communities lacking the resources to participate as stakeholders.