Miklós, András. "Forum Response: The Logic of Effective Altruism". The Boston Review, 6 July 2017.

Miklós, András. "Forum Response: The Logic of Effective Altruism". The Boston Review, 6 July 2017.

• The principles of effective altruism designed for individuals do not easy apply to firms or corporations. This is primarily because firms can do much more harm than individuals; most people cannot release hazardous waste or impoverish people through wage reduction in way corporations can. This creates a much bigger obligation to reduce harm, meaning that firms cannot and should not take all steps to maximize profits for donation in the way individuals are encouraged to.
• Firms can also technically meet the standards of effective altruism in different ways than individuals. For example, setting up a sweatshop in a poor country would benefit that country, but since more could be done and the working conditions are deplorable, most non-effective-altruists would consider this to be immoral.
• Corporations also have special duties and abilities which individuals lack. While certain qualified individuals could serve as doctors or engineers, a pharmaceutical firm can change the price of life-saving medicines in a way that individuals cannot. This greater ability, with a much more abstract cost, may imply a greater impetus to act.