Industry business associations: Self-interested or socially conscious?

Marques, José Carlos

doi:10.5465/ambpp.2016.14977abstract

Cited by 15 publications

(24 citation statements)

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“…First, it sheds new light on our understanding of transnational processes of regulatory convergence and capture via regulatory intermediation, extending and broadening the current research on NGO‐driven harmonization initiatives such as the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling Alliance (ISEAL). Second, it responds to calls for more research on business‐led schemes (Bartley ), acknowledged in the transnational governance literature both as regulators (Cashore et al ; Djelic & Sahlin‐Andersson ; Abbott & Snidal ; Mena & Palazzo ; Marques ) and regulatory intermediaries (Abbott et al ). Third, these initiatives are created and governed by global retailers, some of the world's largest companies whose operations span all consumer goods supply chains – their influence and operational scale encompassing a significant share of global commerce (Hamilton et al ; Deloitte ) – which has significant consequences for ethical labor and sustainability issue areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Private regulatory capture via harmonization: An analysis of global retailer regulatory intermediaries

Marques

2019

Regulation & Governance

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Studies using the Regulatory–Intermediary–Target (RIT) framework have examined a variety of forms of regulatory capture, including how targets capture intermediaries (T➔I) and how intermediaries capture regulators (I➔R). Little attention has been paid to why and how regulators themselves might engage in capture. Yet such a scenario is likely in transnational governance settings characterized by regulatory competition and conflict, as well as power differentials between different types of private regulators (non‐governmental organizations, multinational corporations, and business associations). This paper elucidates why and how a private regulator might capture another private regulator via a regulatory intermediary: R1➔I➔R2. Drawing on interview and archival data, I examine three industry‐driven regulatory intermediaries created to harmonize private labor codes of conduct and ethical audit processes. These are founded and governed by a small group of retail trade associations and global retailers who also fulfill the role of private regulators (R1). My analysis reveals that the creation of these intermediaries is driven by global retailers’ reliance on standardization, low transaction costs, and regulatory harmonization across all aspects of their operations. It further reveals how the harmonization platforms are designed to leverage global retailers’ market power and evolve from regulatory intermediaries into de facto regulators that supplant existing private regulators (R2), and thereby capture transnational governance of consumer product supply chains. The article concludes by discussing contributions, implications, and avenues for future research.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Private regulatory capture via harmonization: An analysis of global retailer regulatory intermediaries

Marques

2019

Regulation & Governance

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“…While firms may seek to influence regulators directly through lobbying activities, they can also try to influence regulation indirectly by taking an intermediary role. In the case of alternative intermediation, firms’ influence over the sovereign authority is often indirect, through intermediaries such as think tanks, chambers of commerce, or other industry associations (Marques ; Salles‐Djelic ), which provide guidelines, services, and advice on regulations. This has been well documented in the tobacco (Landman et al ; Moodie et al ) and alcohol industries (Christiansen & Kroezen ), and with regard to climate change (Kolk & Pinkse ).…”

Section: A Typology Of (In)formal Intermediationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the formal and informal roles of regulatory intermediaries in transnational multistakeholder regulation

Brès

Mena

Salles‐Djelic

2019

Regulation & Governance

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Research on regulation and regulatory processes has traditionally focused on two prominent roles: rulemaking and rule‐taking. Recently, the mediating role of third party actors, regulatory intermediaries, has started to be explored – notably in a dedicated special issue of the ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. The present special issue extends this line of research by elaborating the distinction between formal and informal modes of regulatory intermediation, in the specific context of transnational multistakeholder regulation. In this introduction, we identify two key dimensions of intermediation (in)formalism: officialization and formalization. This allows us to develop a typology of intermediation in multistakeholder regulatory processes: formal, interpretive, alternative, and emergent. Leveraging examples from the papers in this special issue, we discuss how these four types of intermediation coexist and evolve over time. Finally, we elaborate on the implications of our typology for regulatory processes and outcomes.

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“…I read each company's CSR or sustainability report to determine which major CSR initiatives each company has adopted in the areas of labor, human rights and anti‐corruption. I also benefitted from state‐of‐the art research on company participation in voluntary CSR initiatives in apparel (Bair and Palpacuer, ; Fransen and Burgoon, ; Hughes et al., ; Marques, ; O'Rourke, ). I identified relevant CSR initiatives in extractives and apparel by reviewing Ethical Corporation , a specialist practitioners’ CSR publication and I also explored company websites as well as ministerial and EU official reports about CSR regulation in apparel and extractives.…”

Section: Research Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The SAI is a buyer and supplier standard that also was developed in a multi‐stakeholder process. According to Marques (), these are the main multi‐stakeholder initiatives in apparel together with the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) that originated in the Netherlands. I include the Accord as well as one business‐led initiative (the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety (Alliance) which was set up by US businesses as a reaction to the Accord – I discuss the Alliance and the Accord in more detail below).…”

Section: Research Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Do Domestic Regulatory Traditions Shape CSR in Large International US and UK Firms?

Knudsen

2017

Global Policy

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This article examines corporate social responsibility (CSR) pertaining to labor standards in apparel and tax transparency in extractives and explores how domestic regulatory traditions shape CSR in large international US and UK firms. Reflecting their more collaborative business‐government traditions, British firms are more willing to join international CSR multi‐stakeholder initiatives with business‐critical actors such as unions and civil society actors. The US has a more top‐down regulatory approach, which promotes hard law international CSR or encourages business‐driven voluntary CSR initiatives. This article makes three contributions. First, it argues that while corporations are the key actors in international CSR, their behavior reflects their respective national business systems. Second, focusing on a range of international CSR initiatives, this article finds that UK firms are more interested in adopting international (multi‐stakeholder) CSR initiatives than US firms. Finally, the article shows that the US and the UK governments play a key role in driving an international CSR agenda, and in doing this it highlights government agency more so than other research has.

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Industry business associations: Self-interested or socially conscious?

Cited by 15 publications

References 0 publications

Private regulatory capture via harmonization: An analysis of global retailer regulatory intermediaries

Private regulatory capture via harmonization: An analysis of global retailer regulatory intermediaries

Exploring the formal and informal roles of regulatory intermediaries in transnational multistakeholder regulation

How Do Domestic Regulatory Traditions Shape CSR in Large International US and UK Firms?

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