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Various theories of justice have dominated official development assistance (ODA) over the decades, and then the universe of global public action. Historically, they have tended to oppose private, lucrative and selfish activity to the public good, which was a monopoly of states or a field of action mainly for philanthropists. This division no longer reflects either the reality of the field of collective action or the state of the world. This article, in contrast, presents the firm as an institution that produces externalities, either because of its core business or because of the way in which its business is delivered. An important issue, therefore, is to maximize these externalities, either for the benefit of the company’s strategy or for the benefit of the community. Important consequences stem from this alternative vision, for the enterprises themselves, but also for governments and development finance institutions, of how to conduct development policies in the context of globalization, building on the private sector, by using or boosting it to enhance the collective welfare.JEL Codes: D21, D22, F35, H41, L30, L31, L32, L33, L39, O10, O25.