I don't disagree that insincere apologies usually don't work very well. My point is that the "socioeconomic pressure" in many cases has nothing to do "bullying

I don't disagree that insincere apologies usually don't work very well. My point is that the "socioeconomic pressure" in many cases has nothing to do "bullying," "threats," or "playground politics". It can be self-inflicted: If you lower your value to the people who give you money, they will no longer want to give you as much money.