Analyzing if and how international organizations contribute to the sustainable development goals: Combining power and behavior

Abstract

Summary Can International Organizations (IOs) such as the World Bank, United Nations, and International Labor Organization contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? This article argues that this is best analyzed by simultaneously considering two sets of factors: the international political constraints external to IOs and the organizational processes and structures internal to IOs. More specifically, this article suggests that such analyses can take place by combining scholarship on International Relations (IR) and Organizational Behavior (OB). The article defines international power, outlines various constraints on IO autonomy, and suggests that OB and IR are well positioned to jointly improve the study of IO employment practices, organizational structures, bureaucratic politics, and inter‐organizational effects. The core aim is to provide justification and material for combining IR and OB in further research on IOs.

Cherry‐picking the Sustainable Development Goals: Goal prioritization by national governments and implications for global governance

“…Answers to this question partially depend on the degree of influence international organizations currently have on the localization of the SDGs into national contexts. The domestic impact of international organizations is well theorized in the literature (Bernstein & Cashore, 2012; Broome & Seabrooke, 2012) with several scholars elaborating specifically on the role of international organizations in SDG implementation (Abbott & Bernstein, 2015; Bernstein, 2017; Cormier, 2016).…”

“…In qualitative comparative case study involving Bhutan and Vietnam, we zoom in on the potential impact of a specific explanatory variable, namely the assistance (or the lack thereof) a government receives from international organizations. According to the literature, international organizations may play a significant role in shaping domestic policies in general (Bernstein & Cashore, 2012; Rahman, Sadath, & Giessen, 2016) and the national implementation of the 2030 Agenda in particular (Abbott & Bernstein, 2015; Cormier, 2016; Tosun & Peters, 2018). We therefore explore the potential role of international organizations as orchestrators of national governments in their prioritization of the SDGs (Abbott, Genschel, Snidal, & Zangl, 2015; Bernstein, 2017).…”

Mobilising Private Funding of Development Finance

“…However, this depends on the power relationships between shareholders and the MDB. Cormier (2018) takes a theoretical approach to examine the extent to which the MDBs can contribute to the SDGs considering the external and internal constraints that they face. The external factors include the way in which such international organisations (IOs) obtain authority and legitimacy to have an impact on the SDGs independently of shareholders.…”

Humanitarian organizational behavior

“…In the first paper, Cormier () considers the behavior of international organizations themselves, such as the ILO, World Bank, and UN. The article engages theoretically with the question of whether and how such organizations can contribute to realizing the SDGs.…”