Should a government be blamed for any wrongdoing of its country's companies?

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said that the German government should not be blamed for the Volkswagen emissions scandal and people should not demonise the diesel industry, in her speech. Her speech definitely has her political purpose to gain more support and reputation for her government; however, I partially agree with her point that a government should not be blamed for wrongdoings of its country's companies.

For nationalised companies, the government could be blamed for their wrongdoings, as the government is the companies' owner and should be responsible for their misconduct. However, there are many companies in the private sector. These misconducts are made based on their individual interests, as long as they expect the profits from misconduct are greater than the costs from misconduct. The government cannot directly intervene in companies' management; however, it does not mean the government has no control over companies. They are regulators who can increase the costs of companies' misconduct. However, the regulations only influence the domestic markets and have no influence on foreign markets.

When the companies have business activities overseas, such regulations are useless. Therefore, any government does not have any influence on companies' misconduct in foreign countries.