8. Ethics Codes and MNCs as Minority Shareholders: The Case of a Bauxite Mine in Brazil William F. Flanagan and Gail Whiteman * INTRODUCTION Corporate codes are controversial. For some corporate codes of conduct are an important means to fill a ‘regulatory void’ left by government in an era of globalization – a means to ensure that global corporate activity promotes the public good. For others there is no evidence that corporate codes of conduct actually change corporate behaviour; such codes may instead be used merely to deflect government regulation and further diminish the role of the state in social and economic regulation. This debate is well developed and persuasively argued in the introductory chapters to this book. In our chapter we do not attempt to resolve this debate. Rather we simply report on the results of one case study in Brazil that suggests, at least in this one case, that corporate codes of conduct can influence corporate behaviour in a manner that may promote the public good. In particular we examine the activities of a large multinational mining company, Norsk Hydro, as a minority investor in a major bauxite mine in the Brazilian Amazon, Mineração Rio do Norte (MRN). As we detail in our research Norsk Hydro has not only a sophisticated corporate code of conduct, but Norsk Hydro has also taken an active interest in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of MRN, a company in which Norsk Hydro holds only a minority 5 percent interest. We examine the CSR initiatives and shortcomings of MRN, a company effectively controlled and owned by Brazilian investors. The mine is located in a sensitive environmental setting and on territory close to local Quilombos communities. The Quilombos are descendents of escaped slaves who fled up the Amazon and adopted the lifestyle of local Indigenous peoples. As might be expected, MRN’s CSR initiatives with respect to the neighbouring Quilombos were not particularly well developed and had uneven results. However we were intrigued by Norsk Hydro’s efforts as a 212