Corporate driven inequality

The largest US corporations are making more money than ever. They have gone largely unphased by the recent crises (COVID, inflation) that have disrupted the lives of millions of people. In fact, corporate profits have driven inflation, hurting especially vulnerable people in company operations, value chains and in the communities where they operate. Many of the largest US corporations are today bigger and more profitable than ever.

Oxfam works to decrease the impact of corporate driven inequality by engaging investors to move capital towards more equitable and sustainable investments. Working with communities around the world, Oxfam provides investors with information and data about how companies actually operate.

We also work to pass legislation and regulations that increase corporate disclosures, ensure strong corporate governance and accountability, and incentivize alternative business models that are more equitable.

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Inequality Inc.

Oxfam's new inequality report is out. Take a deep dive into how billionaire wealth and corporate power are connected and why we must embrace public services, rein in corporate power, and reinvent business to create a more equal world.

Read the Report

For Investors

Publication

Sector Profile: Retail

Publicly listed retail companies are some of the country’s most lucrative and diverse, yet data shows that they drive inequality across all four pillars we analyzed – People, Power, Profits, and Planet.

Publication

Sector Profile: Pharmaceuticals

A closer look at the United States’ largest publicly listed pharmaceutical companies’ financial, human capital, and carbon emissions disclosures suggests risks and impacts to communities and the planet through Power and Profits.

For Public Policy

Publication

Enhancing Corporate Transparency: Federal Policy Recommendations

Corporate structures as they exist today are undemocratic, by design, run by and in the interest of a small group of elites. The incessant need to earn a profit and benefit the few has come at a great cost to people and the planet. The damaging impacts of the increased concentration of wealth, the automation of industry, and climate catastrophe demand that companies change the way they operate.

Publication

Reforming Corporate Tax Policy to Address Global Inequality: Federal Policy Recommendations

Big corporations engaging in tax avoidance will always be one step ahead of the game unless governments ‘walk the talk’ in tackling these dodges and loopholes, and cooperate to overhaul global tax rules. Previous attempts at tax reform have attempted to plug the holes in our international tax system with limited success. As a result, multinational corporations are still paying less tax than before the financial crisis in 2008, and continue to shift as much as 40% of their foreign profits to tax havens.

Blogs

Politics of Poverty

Where’s the data?

Political gridlock and increased backlash have inhibited the US Securities and Exchange Commission from fulfilling its ambitious corporate transparency agenda. As Oxfam’s data depicts, we are nowhere near knowing how companies perform leaving stakeholders such as investors, governments, and the public in the dark about corporate behavior.