Regulação da atividade de empresas transnacionais na economia de mercado: limites éticos e jurídicos

Abstract

Transnational companies (TNCs) have a social function and economic power as prominent as the State itself in the global market economy. At the local level, the Nation-State remains as a reference for regulating business activities. There is an apparent conflict between the interests of the State, linked to the local community (local level), and economic interests of TNCs (global level). The present study aims to verify the possibility of establishing ethical and legal limits for the performance of TNCs from the legal paradigm of the Nation-State, since economic activity can be both favorable to the local community and harmful (e.g.: despite generate income and taxation, it may disrespect human dignity and stimulate environmental degradation). The hypothetical-deductive method is used, with the aid of bibliographic research, based on a proposal for multidisciplinary reading (Law, Economics, Sociology and Political Science). It is concluded that: 1 – the Law is not conditioned to the Economy; 2 – The State can (and must) regulate business activity, accompanied by the debate on the expansion of corporate social and legal responsibility based on the coexistence and cooperation of multiple social actors, insofar as there is a common interest in maintaining the capitalist production system and humanized capitalism; 3 – At a global level, there is no political or government unity, but a plurality of transnational norms, at different levels (local, regional, global) produced by the State and by transnational associations (e.g.: multilateral bodies, private associations), and an attempted harmonization which relies on standards established by International Human Rights Law, imbued with an universalist humanistic ethical approach, also adopted by Brazilian legal system.