Title : Business-led Peacebuilding in Colombia: Fad or Future of a Country in Crisis?
Working Paper No : 56 (series 1)
Author(s) : Angelika Rettberg
Date : December 2004
[PDF]
Abstract:
This paper argues that the emphasis
on the private sector’s contribution to fuelling armed conflict
has neglected our understanding of business motivations
operating in the opposite direction: building peace. Based on
four cases of local business-led peacebuilding in Colombia, this
paper concludes that these represent innovative and quite
pragmatic solutions to the specific needs of companies faced
with conflict. The paper suggests that factors explaining
business-led peacebuilding include variables related to context
(conflict costs; economic recession; and state absence) as well
as to company-specific traits (nature of assets, size, and
sectoral profiles; institutional trajectories; and the ability
to free ride). The findings point to the importance of
self-interest as an explanation of business-led peacebuilding
and offer insights for scholars and policymakers interested in
promoting private sector participation in overcoming crisis.