Powering ideas through expertise: professionals in global tax battles

Abstract

This contribution discusses how ideas are powered through expertise and moral authority. Professionals compete with each other to power ideas by linking claims to expertise, how things best work, to moral claims about how things should be. To show how, we draw on a case of battles over global tax policy. Corporate reporting for tax purposes is an area where the European Union, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Nations, large global accountancy firms and non-governmental organizations have been active. The point of contention here is what form of financial reporting multinational corporations should provide to ensure they pay their fair share of tax. Ideas powered by expertise contain shared causal beliefs, as well as principled beliefs about value systems. We demonstrate that professionals can contest the established order when demonstrations of expertise can be fused with claims to moral authority. Such a constellation is more likely when political conditions are favourable.

Macroprudential regimes and the politics of social purpose

“…306-307). John Campbell refers to normative ideas that specify how things should be (Campbell, 1998), while Seabrooke and Wigan consider how expert professionals use moral authority to propel ideas with moral force as well as expert analysis (Seabrooke & Wigan, 2016). Schmidt also considers background philosophical ideas, as world views, underlying assumptions, values and principles that structure knowledge in society and are rarely contested except in times of crisis (Schmidt, 2008, p. 306).…”

A virada ideacional: quando e como ideias importam

“…Particularmente no caso dos especialistas, paradigmas dominantes de áreas científicas afins com a política pública em questão são de grande importância (Kingdon 2014). É nesse momento do processo decisório que ideias, usadas como "crenças causais", "ideias pragmáticas" (Goldstein & Keohane 1993;Campbell 2002) ou "crenças programáticas" (Hansen & King 2001), alimentadas pela expertise (Seabrooke & Wigan 2016), redefinem interesses, prescrevem soluções para problemas e geram programas de políticas públicas específicos (Ikenberry 1993). Essa dinâmica é também observada em escala global.…”

“…Essa dinâmica é também observada em escala global. Seabrooke & Wigan (2016), analisando o caso da política fiscal global, argumentam que ideias são alimentadas pela expertise e se constituem como arena de disputa na definição de grandes soluções para os problemas de gastos e arrecadação dos principais países do mundo.…”

Global wealth chains in the international political economy

“…The Big Four provide an excellent example of the Captive type of GWC. Institutional change and reform within this 'mature organizational field' is particularly difficult, since there is a high degree of consensus from the professionals involved on the appropriate technologies and standards for governing financial transactions (Seabrooke and Wigan 2016;Suddaby, Cooper, and Greenwood 2007). Innovation within this Captive type is through transnational professional interaction, and what is generally offered 20 to clients is limited by consensus among the Big Four, the lead suppliers.…”