Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T08:28:34.405Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Regulation and Economic Globalization: Prospects and Limits of Private Governance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Frederick Mayer  and
Gary Gereffi
Frederick Mayer
Affiliation:
Duke University
Gary Gereffi
Affiliation:
Duke University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Corporate codes of conduct, product certifications, process standards, and other voluntary, non-governmental forms of private governance have proliferated in the last two decades. These innovations are a response to social pressures unleashed by globalization and the inadequacy of governmental institutions for addressing its social and environmental impacts. Private governance has had some notable successes, but there are clear limits to what it alone can be expected to accomplish. We hypothesize that the effectiveness of private governance depends on four main factors: 1) the structure of the particular global value chain in which production takes place; 2) the extent to which demand for a firm's products relies on its brand identity; 3) the possibilities for collective action by consumers, workers, or other activists to exert pressure on producers; and 4) the extent to which commercial interests of lead firms align with social and environmental concerns. Taken together, these hypotheses suggest that private governance will flourish in only a limited set of circumstances. With the trend towards consolidation of production in the largest developing countries, however, we also see a strengthening of some forms of public governance. Private governance will not disappear, but it will be linked to emerging forms of multi-stakeholder institutions.

Keywords

private governanceglobal value chainscorporate social responsibilityglobalization
Type
Research Article
Information
Business and Politics , Volume 12 , Issue 3 , October 2010 , pp. 1 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © V.K. Aggarwal 2010 and published under exclusive license to Cambridge University Press 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Auld, Graeme, et al 2010. “Can Technological Innovations Improve Private Regulation in the Global Economy?” Business and Politics 12 (3).Google Scholar
Bair, Jennifer, ed. 2009. Frontiers of Commodity Chain Research. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Bartley, Tim. 2010. “Transnational Private Regulation in Practice: The Limits of Forest and Labor Standards Certification in Indonesia.” Business and Politics 12 (3).Google Scholar
Büthe, Tim. 2010a. “Private Regulation in the Global Economy: A (P)Review.” Business and Politics 12 (3).Google Scholar
Büthe, Tim. 2010b. “Engineering Uncontestedness? The Institutional Development of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) as a Private Regulator.” Business and Politics 12 (3).Google Scholar
Cafaggi, Fabrizio, and Janczuk, Agnieszka. 2010. “Private Regulation and Legal Integration: The European Case.” Business and Politics 12 (3).Google Scholar
Cattaneo, Olivier, Gereffi, Gary and Staritz, Cornelia. 2010. “Global Value Chains in a Postcrisis World: Resilience, Consolidation, and Shifting Markets.” In Global Value Chains in a Postcrisis World: A Development Perspective, edited by Cattaneo, Olivier, Gereffi, Gary and Staritz, Cornelia, 3–20. Washington D.C.: The World Bank.Google Scholar
Baltar, de Andrade, Eduardo, Paulo, Luis dos Santos, Anselmo, Dari Krein, Jose, Leone, Eugenia, Weishaupt Proni, Marcelo and Moretto, Amilton. 2010. “Moving Towards Decent Work. Labour in the Lula Government: Reflections on Recent Brazilian Experience.” http://escholarship.org/uc/item/6w6062g2 Google Scholar
Dicken, Peter. 2007. Global Shift: Mapping the Changing Contours of the World Economy, 5th edition. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Dolan, Catherine and Humphrey, John. 2004. “Changing Governance Patterns in the Trade in Fresh Vegetables between Africa and the United Kingdom.” Environment and Planning A (36): 491–509.Google Scholar
Downie, Andrew. 2007. “Amazon Harvest: Can European Pressure Stop the Creep of Soy Fields into Brazil's Rainforest.” Nature Conservancy Magazine (Autumn). http://www.nature.org/magazine/autumn2007/features/art21918.html Google Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper.Google Scholar
Economist. 2010. “The Next China: China's Labour Market.” The Economist Magazine (July 29). Available online at: http://www.economist.com/node/16693397?story_id=16693397 Google Scholar
Esbenshade, Jill. 2004. Monitoring Sweatshops: Workers, Consumers, and the Global Apparel Industry. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Evans, Peter. 1995. Embedded Autonomy: States and Industrial Transformation. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Fuchs, Doris and Kalfagianni, Agni. 2010. “The Causes and Consequences of Private Food Governance.” Business and Politics 12 (3).Google Scholar
Gereffi, Gary. 1999. “International Trade and Industrial Upgrading in the Apparel Commodity Chain.” Journal of International Economics 48 (1): 37–70.Google Scholar
Gereffi, Gary. 2005. “The Global Economy: Organization, Governance, and Development.” In The Handbook of Economic Sociology, edited by Smelser, Neil J. and Swedberg, Richard, 160–82, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press and Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Gereffi, Gary and Christian, Michelle. 2009. “The Impacts of Wal-Mart: The Rise and Consequences of the World's Dominant Retailer.” Annual Review of Sociology 35: 573–91.Google Scholar
Gereffi, Gary and Christian, Michelle. 2010. “Trade, Transnational Corporations and Food Consumption: A Global Value Chain Approach.” In Trade, Food, Diet and Health, edited by Hawkes, Corinna, Blouin, Chantal, Henson, Spencer, Drager, Nick and Dubé, Laurette, 91–110. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Gereffi, Gary and Fernandez-Stark, Karine. 2010. The Offshore Services Value Chain. Working Paper 5262. The World Bank.Google Scholar
Gereffi, Gary and Frederick, Stacey. 2010. The Global Apparel Value Chain, Trade and the Crisis: Challenges and Opportunities for Developing Countries. Working Paper 5281. The World Bank.Google Scholar
Gereffi, Gary, Garcia-Johnson, Ronie and Sasser, Erika. 2001. “The NGO-Industrial Complex.” Foreign Policy 125: 56–65.Google Scholar
Gereffi, Gary and Kaplinsky, Raphael. 2001. “The Value of Value Chains: Spreading the Gains from Globalization.” In Special Issue of the IDS Bulletin, edited by Gereffi, Gary and Kaplinsky, Raphael. Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex.Google Scholar
Gereffi, Gary and Korzeniewicz, Miguel. eds. 1994. Commodity Chains and Global Capitalism. Westport, CT: Praeger.Google Scholar
Gereffi, Gary, Lee, Joonkoo and Christian, Michelle. 2009. “U.S.-Based Food and Agricultural Value Chains and Their Relevance to Healthy Diets.” Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition 4 (3): 357–74.Google Scholar
Gereffi, Gary and Mayer, Frederick W. 2006. “Globalization and the Demand for Governance.” In The New Offshoring of Jobs and Global Development, edited by Gereffi, Gary, Geneva, Switzerland: International Labor Organization.Google Scholar
Green, Jessica F. 2010. “Private Standards in the Climate Regime: The Greenhouse Gas Protocol.” Business and Politics 12 (3).Google Scholar
Held, David and McGrew, Anthony, eds. 2002. Governing Globalization: Power, Authority and Global Governance. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Henderson, Jeffrey, Dicken, Peter, Hess, Martin, Coe, Neil and Wai-Chung Yeung, Henry. 2002. “Global Production Networks and the Analysis of Economic Development.” Review of International Political Economy 9 (3): 436–64.Google Scholar
Hochstetler, Kathryn and Keck, Margaret E. 2007. Greening Brazil: Environmental Activism in State and Society. Durham & London: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Hughes, Alexandra. 2000. “Retailers, Knowledges and Changing Commodity Networks: The Case of the Cut Flower Trade.” Geoforum 31 (2): 175–90.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald. 1981. “Post-Materialism in an Environment of Insecurity.” The American Political Science Review 75 (4): 880–900.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald. 2000. “Globalization and Postmodern Values.” The Washington Quarterly 23 (1): 215–28.Google Scholar
Kaplinsky, Raphael. 2005. Globalization, Inequality and Poverty. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Keohane, Robert and Nye, Joseph. 1977. Power and Independence. Boston: Little Brown.Google Scholar
Klein, Naomi. 2000. No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. New York: Picador.Google Scholar
Kolk, Ans and van Tulder, Rob. 2004. “Ethics in International Business: Multinational Approaches to Child Labor.” Journal of World Business 39: 49–60.Google Scholar
Kolk, Ans and van Tulder, Rob. 2005. “Setting New Global Rules? TNCs and Codes of Conduct.” Transnational Corporations 14 (3): 1–28.Google Scholar
Locke, Richard, Amengual, Matthew and Mangla, Akshay. 2009. Virtue out of Necessity? Compliance, Commitment, and the Improvement of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains. Working Paper 4719-08. MIT Sloan.Google Scholar
Locke, Richard, Qin, Fei and Brause, Alberto. 2007. “Does Monitoring Improve Labor Standards? Lessons from Nike.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 61 (1): 3–31.Google Scholar
Locke, Richard and Romis, Monica. 2007. “Improving Work Conditions in a Global Supply Chain.” MIT Sloan Management Review 48 (2): 54–62.Google Scholar
Lukas, Karin, Plank, Leonhard and Staritz, Cornelia. 2010. “Securing Labour Rights in Global Production Networks: Legal Instruments and Policy Options.” Vienna: Chamber of Labour.Google Scholar
Corporation, McDonald's. 2009. Worldwide Corporate Responsibility Online Report: The Values We Bring to the Table. http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/csr/report/overview.-RightParaContentTout-43872-ReportsLinkList-28982-File1.tmp/mcd052_2009report_v6.pdf.Google Scholar
Mandle, Jay R. 2000. “The Student Anti-Sweatshop Movement: Limits and Potential.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 570 (1): 92–103.Google Scholar
Mattli, Walter and Woods, Ngaire. 2009a. “Introduction.” In The Politics of Global Regulation, edited by Mattli, Walter and Woods, Ngaire, ix–xvi. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Mattli, Walter and Woods, Ngaire. 2009b. “In Whose Benefit? Explaining Regulatory Change in Global Politics.” In The Politics of Global Regulation, edited by Mattli, Walter and Woods, Ngaire, 1–43. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Mayer, Frederick W. 1998. Interpreting NAFTA. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Memodovic, Olga and Sheperd, Andrew. 2009. Agri-Food Value-Chains and Poverty Reduction: Overview of Main Issues, Trends and Experiences. Working Paper 12/2008. Research and Statistics Branch, United Nations Industrial Development Organization.Google Scholar
Ocampo, Jose Antonio. 2010. “Rethinking Global Economic and Social Governance.” Journal of Globalization and Development 1 (1): 1–26.Google Scholar
Olson, Mancur. 1965. The Logic of Collective Action; Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Harvard Economic Studies, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Orsato, Renato J. 2009. Sustainability Strategies: When Does It Pay to Be Green?. Insead Business Press Series, Basingstoke, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Pay, Ellen. 2009. “The Market for Organic and Fair Trade Coffee.” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Karl. 1944. The Great Transformation. Boston: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
Reardon, Thomas and Hopkins, Rose. 2006. “The Supermarket Revolution in Developing Countries.” European Journal of Development Research 18 (4): 522–45.Google Scholar
Riisgaard, Lone. 2009. “Global Value Chains, Labor Organization and Private Social Standards: Lessons from East African Cut Flower Industries.” World Development 37 (2): 326–40.Google Scholar
Riisgaard, Lone and Hammer, Nikolaus. Forthcoming. “Prospects for Labour in Global Value Chains: Labour Standards in the Cut Flower and Banana Industries.” British Journal of Industrial Relations, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8543.2009.00744.x/abstract.Google Scholar
Ruggie, John. 1982. “International Regimes, Transactions and Change: Embedded Liberalism in the Postwar Economic Order.” International Organization 36 (2): 379–415.Google Scholar
Ruggie, John. 2002. “Trade, Sustainability and Global Governance.” Columbia Journal of Environmental Law 27 (2): 297–307.Google Scholar
Ruggie, John. 2008. “Taking Embedded Liberalism Global: The Corporate Connection“ In Embedding Global Markets: An Enduring Challenge, edited by Ruggie, John, 231–254. Aldershot, England: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Starobin, Shana and Weinthal, Erika. 2010. “The Search for Credible Information in Social and Environmental Global Governance: The Kosher Label.” Business and Politics 12 (3).Google Scholar
Sturgeon, Timothy J. and Kawakami, Momoko. 2010. “Global Value Chains in the Electronics Industry: Was the 2008-09 Crisis a Window of Opportunity for Developing Countries.” In Global Value Chains in a Post-Crisis World, edited by Cattaneo, Olivier, Gereffi, Gary and Staritz, Cornelia, 245–301. Washington D.C.: The World Bank.Google Scholar
Sturgeon, Timothy J. and Lester, Richard. 2004. “The New Global Supply-Base: New Challenges for Local Suppliers in East Asia.” In Global Production Networking and Technological Change in East Asia, edited by Yusuf, Shahid, Altaf, Anjum and Nabeshima, Kaoru, 35–77. Washington D.C.: The World Bank & Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sturgeon, Timothy J., Memedovic, Olga, Van Biesebroeck, Johannes and Gereffi, Gary. 2009. “Globalization of the Automotive Industry: Main Features and Trends.” International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development 2 (1/2): 7–24.Google Scholar
Tarrow, Sidney 1998. Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
TransFair USA. 2005. 2005 Fair Trade Coffee: Facts and Figures.Google Scholar
Vogel, David. 2005. The Market for Virtue. Washington, DC: Brookings.Google Scholar
Vogel, David J. 2008. “Private Global Business Regulation.” Annual Review of Political Science 11: 261–82.Google Scholar
Vogel, David J. 2009. “The Private Regulation of Global Corporate Conduct.” In The Politics of Global Regulation, edited by Mattli, Walter and Woods, Ngaire, 1–43. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Whytock, Christopher A. 2010. “Public-Private Interaction in Global Governance: The Case of Transnational Commercial Arbitration.” Business and Politics 12 (3).Google Scholar
Worthen, Ben, Tuna, Cari, and Scheck, Justin. 2009. “Companies More Prone to Go ‘Vertical’.” Wall Street Journal (December 1).Google Scholar
You, Mingqing and Huang, Ke. 2009. “Annual Review of Chinese Environmental Law Developments.” In Environmental Law Reporter News & Analysis, 10484. Washington D.C.: Environmental Law Institute.Google Scholar