CORPORATE PERFORMANCE CRIME AS STRUCTURALLY COERCED ACTION

This article will argue that corporate performance crime can be descri bed as structurally coerced action because it represents the most reas onable response to a sanction-containing organisational demand set bey ond a legitimately attainable threshold. This account of corporate per formance crime recognises the importance of structural strain, rationa l choice and social learning experiences as key contours on its contex tual landscape. However, the concept of coercion as a moral concept re quires a further and vital ingredient - encroachment upon some moral r ight. The claim of right to be asserted is one to have organisational rewards allocated upon the basis of merit-based criteria. It is strain theory which provides a space for the assertion of encroachment upon this moral right, while the theories of rational choice and social lea rning help explain the reasonableness of action. The designation of co rporate performance crime as coerced action contains implications for criminal responsibility, punishment and crime-prevention strategies wh ich the article explores.