My research program lies at the intersection of strategic management, sustainability and transnational governance. I'm particularly interested in the drivers, organizational strategies and effectiveness of inter-organizational coalitions that address social and environmental challenges - these include business associations, multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) and business-state interactions. Current projects examine: 1) how market and non-market strategies shape the transnational regulation of global supply chains (CSR standards, sustainability certifications and industry codes of conduct); 2) industry responses to carbon pricing schemes. Address: Desautels Faculty of Management
McGill University
Montreal, Canada
This is the first volume of two books on the changing nature of state-business relations. This vo... more This is the first volume of two books on the changing nature of state-business relations. This volume explores CSR in a historical trajectory and development context, contributing to the body of critical thinking that calls for more comprehensive regulatory frameworks.
This is the second volume of two books on the changing nature of state-business relations. This v... more This is the second volume of two books on the changing nature of state-business relations. This volume focuses on the need to shift attention from what business is doing in relation to CSR and to what private regulation is doing in relation to social policy.
Recent scholarship on transnational business governance has begun to examine public-private inter... more Recent scholarship on transnational business governance has begun to examine public-private interactions and the active role of governments. We make two key contributions that integrate and expand this literature. First, in juxtaposition to functionalist accounts, we foreground the fundamentally political and often contentious character of these interactions. As private transnational governance schemes and standards 'hit the ground', private-public interactions, we argue, are fundamentally embedded in national political arenas and tied to domestic distributional struggles among competing regulatory coalitions. Building upon multiple empirical streams of research, we develop a political-strategic framework that maps the diversity of Southern government responses (substitute, adopt, repurpose, replace or reject) to transnational private governance. Our framework shows that government responses are a function of both strategic fit with domestic industrial capabilities and structures, and strength of developmental state capacity. Second, our proposed framework adopts the vantage point of Global South governments and industries, particularly how development challenges and strategic options within global value chains affect their understanding of, and responses to, transnational schemes and standards. This is an important corrective to a Northern bias in the private governance literature.
We examine the relationship between private and public regulatory authority in contexts character... more We examine the relationship between private and public regulatory authority in contexts characterized by radical transnational activist contestation against industry practices. Employing a comparative case design, we study government responses to similar activist campaigns calling for a trade ban on Canada's sealing and fur industries. Relying on conventional public authority, the Canadian government was unable to prevent a European ban on seal skin products, leading to the collapse of its sealing industry. In contrast, its response to anti-fur trapping activists successfully employed private authority in the form of a standard-setting multi-stakeholder initiative (MSI). Doing so not only averted a ban but effectively shut down international debate over restrictions concerning the sale of products using trapped fur. Drawing from social movement theory on activist heterogeneity and political opportunity structure, we introduce a novel conceptualization of standard-setting MSIs as strategic instruments employed by governments to constrain the political opportunities for radical transnational activists. Our findings contribute to the literatures examining interactions between private and public regulatory authority, instruments of government repression and the political dynamics surrounding MSIs.
Although corporations can play important roles in addressing
some of society’s problems, it’s naï... more Although corporations can play important roles in addressing some of society’s problems, it’s naïve to think that corporate social responsibility can turn the corporate landscape into a win-win wonderland.
Studies using the Regulatory-Intermediary-Target (RIT) framework have examined a variety of forms... more Studies using the Regulatory-Intermediary-Target (RIT) framework have examined a variety of forms of regulatory capture, including how targets capture intermediaries (TàI) and how intermediaries capture regulators (IàR). Little attention has been paid to why and how regulators themselves might engage in capture. Yet such a scenario is likely in transnational gover-nance 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: R1àIàR2. 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.
The number and scale of business associations focused on corporate responsibility and sustainabil... more The number and scale of business associations focused on corporate responsibility and sustainability has grown dramatically in recent decades and they are becoming influential actors in both national and international governance. Yet surprisingly little research exists on such organizations and recognition of the organizational lineage they share with special interest groups is yet to be examined—are industry business associations merely lobbies for their members’ own interests or are they viable self-regulatory institutions capable of addressing contemporary social and sustainability issues? This paper identifies and reviews fragmented insights from literatures that address this question. Drawing on various streams of research within the political science, economics and management disciplines that provide diverse lenses on the phenomenon of business associations, it juxtaposes and groups them into two broad perspectives: business associations as special interest groups that are detrimental to society (“peril”); business associations as self-regulatory institutions capable of addressing contemporary challenges (“promise”).
This paper addresses recent calls to study the role of the state in private regulation. Integrati... more This paper addresses recent calls to study the role of the state in private regulation. Integrating current scholarship on the state as a catalyst of private regulatory regimes with prior literature on regulatory failure and self-regulation, it identifies and problematizes unsettled assumptions used
as a starting point by this growing body of research. The case study traces the evolution of public debates and the interaction of different regulatory initiatives dealing with corporate social responsibility issues in Canada’s mining industry. Findings reveal the conditions under which the state is more likely to encourage firm-level, fragmented initiatives than facilitate and promote industry-wide regulatory strengthening and consolidation. I discuss the need for greater analytical precision regarding the variation in regulatory policy preferences across time and branches of government, as well as the interaction between public and private regulatory initiatives. The conclusion outlines suggested areas for future research as well as the likely outcome of Canada’s current CSR policy framework.
Combating Poverty and Inequality: Structural Change, Social Policy and Politics, 2010
The chapter will examine the strategies of organized business in influencing development policies... more The chapter will examine the strategies of organized business in influencing development policies, and the conditions under which business is likely to support or oppose progressive social reform. It will also consider how organized business coordinates firm preferences and advances a common business policy, including its lobbying activities and kinds of pacts it enters into with organized labour, the state and communities.
Pressure to change current preference agreements between developed and developing countries is in... more Pressure to change current preference agreements between developed and developing countries is increasing. Recent WTO negotiations and the EU’s Everything But Arms (EBA) Agreement are expected to result in a complete phase out of the EU’s ACP Sugar Protocol, one of the longest standing and highest preference margin granting agreements (Williams and Ruffer 2003). Similarly, the US scheme is under comparable pressure.
The two most pressing reasons for addressing the negative impacts of preference erosion are: 1) developmental issues including job losses and likely increase of poverty; 2) resolving what may become an impasse for WTO trade negotiations (Williams and Ruffer 2003).
Numerous proposals for helping affected countries deal with the impact of preference erosion have been suggested to policymakers. However, the extent to which preference erosion will affect current preference beneficiaries remains unclear, making it difficult to assess appropriate policy interventions.
The focus of this research report has been to gain, as far as possible, an understanding of who is currently benefiting from preferential access, not just in terms of which countries but wherever possible, which parties. The following research questions have guided the mix of
policy and quantitative analysis in the following pages:
What is the ownership and, if possible, employment structure of sugar production in the countries with quotas, especially the poorest countries?
What is the share of income accruing to the country (including tax revenue) and the share going abroad?
Which countries could expand production significantly in the absence of quotas, and which would lose; what would be the ownership structure and division of income?
How well does the industry lobby group, the London sugar group, reflect the interests of the various sugar companies, sugar countries, and other interest groups?
This is the first volume of two books on the changing nature of state-business relations. This vo... more This is the first volume of two books on the changing nature of state-business relations. This volume explores CSR in a historical trajectory and development context, contributing to the body of critical thinking that calls for more comprehensive regulatory frameworks.
This is the second volume of two books on the changing nature of state-business relations. This v... more This is the second volume of two books on the changing nature of state-business relations. This volume focuses on the need to shift attention from what business is doing in relation to CSR and to what private regulation is doing in relation to social policy.
Recent scholarship on transnational business governance has begun to examine public-private inter... more Recent scholarship on transnational business governance has begun to examine public-private interactions and the active role of governments. We make two key contributions that integrate and expand this literature. First, in juxtaposition to functionalist accounts, we foreground the fundamentally political and often contentious character of these interactions. As private transnational governance schemes and standards 'hit the ground', private-public interactions, we argue, are fundamentally embedded in national political arenas and tied to domestic distributional struggles among competing regulatory coalitions. Building upon multiple empirical streams of research, we develop a political-strategic framework that maps the diversity of Southern government responses (substitute, adopt, repurpose, replace or reject) to transnational private governance. Our framework shows that government responses are a function of both strategic fit with domestic industrial capabilities and structures, and strength of developmental state capacity. Second, our proposed framework adopts the vantage point of Global South governments and industries, particularly how development challenges and strategic options within global value chains affect their understanding of, and responses to, transnational schemes and standards. This is an important corrective to a Northern bias in the private governance literature.
We examine the relationship between private and public regulatory authority in contexts character... more We examine the relationship between private and public regulatory authority in contexts characterized by radical transnational activist contestation against industry practices. Employing a comparative case design, we study government responses to similar activist campaigns calling for a trade ban on Canada's sealing and fur industries. Relying on conventional public authority, the Canadian government was unable to prevent a European ban on seal skin products, leading to the collapse of its sealing industry. In contrast, its response to anti-fur trapping activists successfully employed private authority in the form of a standard-setting multi-stakeholder initiative (MSI). Doing so not only averted a ban but effectively shut down international debate over restrictions concerning the sale of products using trapped fur. Drawing from social movement theory on activist heterogeneity and political opportunity structure, we introduce a novel conceptualization of standard-setting MSIs as strategic instruments employed by governments to constrain the political opportunities for radical transnational activists. Our findings contribute to the literatures examining interactions between private and public regulatory authority, instruments of government repression and the political dynamics surrounding MSIs.
Although corporations can play important roles in addressing
some of society’s problems, it’s naï... more Although corporations can play important roles in addressing some of society’s problems, it’s naïve to think that corporate social responsibility can turn the corporate landscape into a win-win wonderland.
Studies using the Regulatory-Intermediary-Target (RIT) framework have examined a variety of forms... more Studies using the Regulatory-Intermediary-Target (RIT) framework have examined a variety of forms of regulatory capture, including how targets capture intermediaries (TàI) and how intermediaries capture regulators (IàR). Little attention has been paid to why and how regulators themselves might engage in capture. Yet such a scenario is likely in transnational gover-nance 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: R1àIàR2. 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.
The number and scale of business associations focused on corporate responsibility and sustainabil... more The number and scale of business associations focused on corporate responsibility and sustainability has grown dramatically in recent decades and they are becoming influential actors in both national and international governance. Yet surprisingly little research exists on such organizations and recognition of the organizational lineage they share with special interest groups is yet to be examined—are industry business associations merely lobbies for their members’ own interests or are they viable self-regulatory institutions capable of addressing contemporary social and sustainability issues? This paper identifies and reviews fragmented insights from literatures that address this question. Drawing on various streams of research within the political science, economics and management disciplines that provide diverse lenses on the phenomenon of business associations, it juxtaposes and groups them into two broad perspectives: business associations as special interest groups that are detrimental to society (“peril”); business associations as self-regulatory institutions capable of addressing contemporary challenges (“promise”).
This paper addresses recent calls to study the role of the state in private regulation. Integrati... more This paper addresses recent calls to study the role of the state in private regulation. Integrating current scholarship on the state as a catalyst of private regulatory regimes with prior literature on regulatory failure and self-regulation, it identifies and problematizes unsettled assumptions used
as a starting point by this growing body of research. The case study traces the evolution of public debates and the interaction of different regulatory initiatives dealing with corporate social responsibility issues in Canada’s mining industry. Findings reveal the conditions under which the state is more likely to encourage firm-level, fragmented initiatives than facilitate and promote industry-wide regulatory strengthening and consolidation. I discuss the need for greater analytical precision regarding the variation in regulatory policy preferences across time and branches of government, as well as the interaction between public and private regulatory initiatives. The conclusion outlines suggested areas for future research as well as the likely outcome of Canada’s current CSR policy framework.
Combating Poverty and Inequality: Structural Change, Social Policy and Politics, 2010
The chapter will examine the strategies of organized business in influencing development policies... more The chapter will examine the strategies of organized business in influencing development policies, and the conditions under which business is likely to support or oppose progressive social reform. It will also consider how organized business coordinates firm preferences and advances a common business policy, including its lobbying activities and kinds of pacts it enters into with organized labour, the state and communities.
Pressure to change current preference agreements between developed and developing countries is in... more Pressure to change current preference agreements between developed and developing countries is increasing. Recent WTO negotiations and the EU’s Everything But Arms (EBA) Agreement are expected to result in a complete phase out of the EU’s ACP Sugar Protocol, one of the longest standing and highest preference margin granting agreements (Williams and Ruffer 2003). Similarly, the US scheme is under comparable pressure.
The two most pressing reasons for addressing the negative impacts of preference erosion are: 1) developmental issues including job losses and likely increase of poverty; 2) resolving what may become an impasse for WTO trade negotiations (Williams and Ruffer 2003).
Numerous proposals for helping affected countries deal with the impact of preference erosion have been suggested to policymakers. However, the extent to which preference erosion will affect current preference beneficiaries remains unclear, making it difficult to assess appropriate policy interventions.
The focus of this research report has been to gain, as far as possible, an understanding of who is currently benefiting from preferential access, not just in terms of which countries but wherever possible, which parties. The following research questions have guided the mix of
policy and quantitative analysis in the following pages:
What is the ownership and, if possible, employment structure of sugar production in the countries with quotas, especially the poorest countries?
What is the share of income accruing to the country (including tax revenue) and the share going abroad?
Which countries could expand production significantly in the absence of quotas, and which would lose; what would be the ownership structure and division of income?
How well does the industry lobby group, the London sugar group, reflect the interests of the various sugar companies, sugar countries, and other interest groups?
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some of society’s problems, it’s naïve to think that corporate
social responsibility can turn the corporate landscape into a
win-win wonderland.
as a starting point by this growing body of research. The case study traces the evolution of public debates and the interaction of different regulatory initiatives dealing with corporate social responsibility issues in Canada’s mining industry. Findings reveal the conditions under which the state is more likely to encourage firm-level, fragmented initiatives than facilitate and promote industry-wide regulatory strengthening and consolidation. I discuss the need for greater analytical precision regarding the variation in regulatory policy preferences across time and branches of government, as well as the interaction between public and private regulatory initiatives. The conclusion outlines suggested areas for future research as well as the likely outcome of Canada’s current CSR policy framework.
The two most pressing reasons for addressing the negative impacts of preference erosion are: 1) developmental issues including job losses and likely increase of poverty; 2) resolving what may become an impasse for WTO trade negotiations (Williams and Ruffer 2003).
Numerous proposals for helping affected countries deal with the impact of preference erosion have been suggested to policymakers. However, the extent to which preference erosion will affect current preference beneficiaries remains unclear, making it difficult to assess appropriate policy interventions.
The focus of this research report has been to gain, as far as possible, an understanding of who is currently benefiting from preferential access, not just in terms of which countries but wherever possible, which parties. The following research questions have guided the mix of
policy and quantitative analysis in the following pages:
What is the ownership and, if possible, employment structure of sugar production in the countries with quotas, especially the poorest countries?
What is the share of income accruing to the country (including tax revenue) and the share going abroad?
Which countries could expand production significantly in the absence of quotas, and which would lose; what would be the ownership structure and division of income?
How well does the industry lobby group, the London sugar group, reflect the interests of the various sugar companies, sugar countries, and other interest groups?
some of society’s problems, it’s naïve to think that corporate
social responsibility can turn the corporate landscape into a
win-win wonderland.
as a starting point by this growing body of research. The case study traces the evolution of public debates and the interaction of different regulatory initiatives dealing with corporate social responsibility issues in Canada’s mining industry. Findings reveal the conditions under which the state is more likely to encourage firm-level, fragmented initiatives than facilitate and promote industry-wide regulatory strengthening and consolidation. I discuss the need for greater analytical precision regarding the variation in regulatory policy preferences across time and branches of government, as well as the interaction between public and private regulatory initiatives. The conclusion outlines suggested areas for future research as well as the likely outcome of Canada’s current CSR policy framework.
The two most pressing reasons for addressing the negative impacts of preference erosion are: 1) developmental issues including job losses and likely increase of poverty; 2) resolving what may become an impasse for WTO trade negotiations (Williams and Ruffer 2003).
Numerous proposals for helping affected countries deal with the impact of preference erosion have been suggested to policymakers. However, the extent to which preference erosion will affect current preference beneficiaries remains unclear, making it difficult to assess appropriate policy interventions.
The focus of this research report has been to gain, as far as possible, an understanding of who is currently benefiting from preferential access, not just in terms of which countries but wherever possible, which parties. The following research questions have guided the mix of
policy and quantitative analysis in the following pages:
What is the ownership and, if possible, employment structure of sugar production in the countries with quotas, especially the poorest countries?
What is the share of income accruing to the country (including tax revenue) and the share going abroad?
Which countries could expand production significantly in the absence of quotas, and which would lose; what would be the ownership structure and division of income?
How well does the industry lobby group, the London sugar group, reflect the interests of the various sugar companies, sugar countries, and other interest groups?