IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bpj/buspol/v12y2010i3n9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can Technological Innovations Improve Private Regulation in the Global Economy?

Author

Listed:
  • Auld Graeme

    (Carleton University)

  • Cashore Benjamin

    (Yale University)

  • Balboa Cristina

    (Baruch College, City University of New York)

  • Bozzi Laura

    (Yale University)

  • Renckens Stefan

    (Yale University)

Abstract

Those supplying private regulation in the global economy face two fundamental challenges if they are to ameliorate the problems for which they create these systems: targets must conform to, while demanders must have proof of, regulatory compliance. This paper explores an important area absent from assessments as to whether, when, and how, private regulatory bodies are successful in improving behavior and rewarding compliant firms: the role of technological innovations. Employing an inductive, comparative case study analysis, we offer an analytical framework that distinguishes technological innovations that improve tracking mechanisms from innovations that directly improve on-the-ground performance. We illustrate the utility of the analytical framework through an assessment of technological innovations in shaping "non-state market driven" global certification programs governing forestry, fisheries, coffee, e-waste, and climate.

Suggested Citation

  • Auld Graeme & Cashore Benjamin & Balboa Cristina & Bozzi Laura & Renckens Stefan, 2010. "Can Technological Innovations Improve Private Regulation in the Global Economy?," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-42, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:buspol:v:12:y:2010:i:3:n:9
    DOI: 10.2202/1469-3569.1323
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2202/1469-3569.1323
    Download Restriction: For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2202/1469-3569.1323?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tim Büthe & Walter Mattli, 2011. "The New Global Rulers: The Privatization of Regulation in the World Economy," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9470.
    2. Green, Jessica F., 2010. "Private Standards in the Climate Regime: The Greenhouse Gas Protocol," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(3), pages 1-37, October.
    3. Starobin Shana & Weinthal Erika, 2010. "The Search for Credible Information in Social and Environmental Global Governance: The Kosher Label," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-37, October.
    4. Laura Raynolds & Douglas Murray & Andrew Heller, 2007. "Regulating sustainability in the coffee sector: A comparative analysis of third-party environmental and social certification initiatives," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 24(2), pages 147-163, June.
    5. Ponte, Stefano, 2008. "Greener than Thou: The Political Economy of Fish Ecolabeling and Its Local Manifestations in South Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 159-175, January.
    6. Douglas Murray & Laura Raynolds, 2000. "Alternative trade in bananas: Obstacles and opportunities for progressive social change in the global economy," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 17(1), pages 65-74, March.
    7. Aimee Shreck, 2005. "Resistance, redistribution, and power in the Fair Trade banana initiative," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 22(1), pages 17-29, March.
    8. repec:wbk:wboper:13404 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Büthe, Tim, 2002. "Taking Temporality Seriously: Modeling History and the Use of Narratives as Evidence," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 96(3), pages 481-493, September.
    10. Giovannucci, Daniele & Koekoek, Freek Jan, 2003. "The State of Sustainable Coffee: A Study of Twelve Major Markets," MPRA Paper 17172, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Green Jessica F, 2010. "Private Standards in the Climate Regime: The Greenhouse Gas Protocol," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-39, October.
    12. Cafaggi Fabrizio & Janczuk Agnieszka, 2010. "Private Regulation and Legal Integration: The European Example," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-42, October.
    13. Tad Mutersbaugh, 2005. "Fighting Standards with Standards: Harmonization, Rents, and Social Accountability in Certified Agrofood Networks," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(11), pages 2033-2051, November.
    14. Erceg, Diane, 2006. "Deterring IUU fishing through state control over nationals," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 173-179, March.
    15. Karan Capoor & Philippe Ambrosi, "undated". "State and Trends of the Carbon Market 2008," World Bank Publications - Reports 13405, The World Bank Group.
    16. Starobin, Shana & Weinthal, Erika, 2010. "The Search for Credible Information in Social and Environmental Global Governance: The Kosher Label," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(3), pages 1-35, October.
    17. Durevall, Dick, 2007. "Competition in the Swedish coffee market, 1978-2002," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 721-739, August.
    18. Braithwaite,John & Drahos,Peter, 2000. "Global Business Regulation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521784993, October.
    19. George A. Akerlof, 1970. "The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500.
    20. Bartley Tim, 2010. "Transnational Private Regulation in Practice: The Limits of Forest and Labor Standards Certification in Indonesia," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-36, October.
    21. Mayer, Frederick & Gereffi, Gary, 2010. "Regulation and Economic Globalization: Prospects and Limits of Private Governance," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(3), pages 1-25, October.
    22. Mayer Frederick & Gereffi Gary, 2010. "Regulation and Economic Globalization: Prospects and Limits of Private Governance," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-27, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fred Gale & Francisco Ascui & Heather Lovell, 2017. "Sensing Reality? New Monitoring Technologies for Global Sustainability Standards," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 17(2), pages 65-83, May.
    2. Kevan W. Lamm & Lauren Pike & Lauren Griffeth & Jiyea Park & Andrews Idun, 2023. "Critical Issues Facing the Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resources Industries in the State of Georgia," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-12, June.
    3. Cashore, Benjamin & Stone, Michael W., 2012. "Can legality verification rescue global forest governance?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 13-22.
    4. Nicolas Schmid & Leonore Haelg & Sebastian Sewerin & Tobias S. Schmidt & Irina Simmen, 2021. "Governing complex societal problems: The impact of private on public regulation through technological change," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 840-855, July.
    5. Büthe Tim, 2010. "Private Regulation in the Global Economy: A (P)Review," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-40, October.
    6. Christine Overdevest & Jonathan Zeitlin, 2014. "Assembling an experimentalist regime: Transnational governance interactions in the forest sector," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(1), pages 22-48, March.
    7. Pavel Castka & Cory Searcy & Sönke Fischer, 2020. "Technology-enhanced Auditing in Voluntary Sustainability Standards: The Impact of COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-24, June.
    8. Lars H. Gulbrandsen, 2014. "Dynamic governance interactions: Evolutionary effects of state responses to non‐state certification programs," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(1), pages 74-92, March.
    9. Tim Bartley, 2014. "Transnational governance and the re‐centered state: Sustainability or legality?," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(1), pages 93-109, March.
    10. Büthe Tim, 2010. "Global Private Politics: A Research Agenda," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-26, October.
    11. Wenlong He & Wei Yang & Seong-jin Choi, 2018. "The Interplay Between Private and Public Regulations: Evidence from ISO 14001 Adoption Among Chinese Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 477-497, October.
    12. Peter Grabosky, 2013. "Beyond Responsive Regulation: The expanding role of non‐state actors in the regulatory process," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(1), pages 114-123, March.
    13. Benjamin Cashore & Michael W. Stone, 2014. "Does California need Delaware? Explaining Indonesian, Chinese, and United States support for legality compliance of internationally traded products," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(1), pages 49-73, March.
    14. Campbell-Verduyn Malcolm, 2016. "Merely TINCering around: the shifting private authority of technology, information and news corporations," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 18(2), pages 143-170, August.
    15. Mayer Frederick & Gereffi Gary, 2010. "Regulation and Economic Globalization: Prospects and Limits of Private Governance," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-27, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Janina Grabs & Graeme Auld & Benjamin Cashore, 2021. "Private regulation, public policy, and the perils of adverse ontological selection," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(4), pages 1183-1208, October.
    2. Büthe Tim, 2010. "Private Regulation in the Global Economy: A (P)Review," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-40, October.
    3. Wenlong He & Wei Yang & Seong-jin Choi, 2018. "The Interplay Between Private and Public Regulations: Evidence from ISO 14001 Adoption Among Chinese Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 477-497, October.
    4. Büthe Tim, 2010. "Global Private Politics: A Research Agenda," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-26, October.
    5. Mayer Frederick & Gereffi Gary, 2010. "Regulation and Economic Globalization: Prospects and Limits of Private Governance," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-27, October.
    6. Baudot, Lisa & Cooper, David J., 2022. "Regulatory mandates and responses to uncomfortable knowledge: The case of country-by-country reporting in the extractive sector," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    7. Büthe Tim, 2010. "Engineering Uncontestedness? The Origins and Institutional Development of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-64, October.
    8. Nicolas Schmid & Leonore Haelg & Sebastian Sewerin & Tobias S. Schmidt & Irina Simmen, 2021. "Governing complex societal problems: The impact of private on public regulation through technological change," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 840-855, July.
    9. Maja Tampe, 2018. "Leveraging the Vertical: The Contested Dynamics of Sustainability Standards and Labour in Global Production Networks," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(1), pages 43-74, March.
    10. Fuchs Doris & Kalfagianni Agni, 2010. "The Causes and Consequences of Private Food Governance," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-36, October.
    11. Sandra Lavenex & Omar Serrano & Tim Büthe, 2021. "Power transitions and the rise of the regulatory state: Global market governance in flux," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 445-471, July.
    12. Khalid Nadvi & Gale Raj‐Reichert, 2015. "Governing health and safety at lower tiers of the computer industry global value chain," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(3), pages 243-258, September.
    13. Cafaggi Fabrizio & Janczuk Agnieszka, 2010. "Private Regulation and Legal Integration: The European Example," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-42, October.
    14. Helmerich, Nicole & Raj-Reichert, Gale & Zajak, Sabrina, 2021. "Exercising associational and networked power through the use of digital technology by workers in global value chains," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 25(2), pages 142-166.
    15. Bennett, Elizabeth A., 2017. "Who Governs Socially-Oriented Voluntary Sustainability Standards? Not the Producers of Certified Products," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 53-69.
    16. Agni Kalfagianni, 2014. "Addressing the Global Sustainability Challenge: The Potential and Pitfalls of Private Governance from the Perspective of Human Capabilities," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(2), pages 307-320, June.
    17. Mikkel Kruuse & Kasper Reming Tangbæk & Kristjan Jespersen & Caleb Gallemore, 2019. "Navigating Input and Output Legitimacy in Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives: Institutional Stewards at Work," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-27, November.
    18. Bullock Graham, 2015. "Signaling the credibility of private actors as public agents: transparency, independence, and expertise in environmental evaluations of products and companies," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 17(2), pages 177-219, August.
    19. Rainer Kasperzak & Marko Kureljusic & Lucas Reisch & Simon Thies, 2023. "Accounting for Carbon Emissions—Current State of Sustainability Reporting Practice under the GHG Protocol," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-17, January.
    20. Dafe, Florence & Upadhyaya, Radha & Sommer, Christoph, 2021. "Employing capital: Patient capital and labour relations in Kenya's manufacturing sector," IDOS Discussion Papers 18/2021, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bpj:buspol:v:12:y:2010:i:3:n:9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.