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Multinationals as global institution: Power, authority and relative autonomy

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  • John Gerard Ruggie

Abstract

This article aims to inform the long‐standing and unresolved debate between voluntary corporate social responsibility and initiatives to impose binding legal obligations on multinational enterprises. The two approaches share a common feature: neither can fully specify its own scope conditions, that is, how much of the people and planet agenda either can expect to deliver. The reason they share this feature is also the same: neither is based on a foundational political analysis of the multinational enterprise in the context of global governance. Such an analysis is essential for providing background to and perspective on what either approach can hope to achieve, and how. This article begins to bridge the gap by illustrating aspects of the political power, authority, and relative autonomy of the contemporary multinational enterprise. The conclusion spells out some implications for the debate itself, and for further research.

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  • John Gerard Ruggie, 2018. "Multinationals as global institution: Power, authority and relative autonomy," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(3), pages 317-333, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:reggov:v:12:y:2018:i:3:p:317-333
    DOI: 10.1111/rego.12154
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    3. Mairon G. Bastos Lima & Almut Schilling‐Vacaflor, 2024. "Supply chain divergence challenges a ‘Brussels effect’ from Europe's human rights and environmental due diligence laws," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 15(2), pages 260-275, May.
    4. Rasmus Corlin Christensen & Leonard Seabrooke & Duncan Wigan, 2022. "Professional action in global wealth chains," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(3), pages 705-721, July.
    5. Elin Jönsson, 2023. "Struggles for Regulatory Hardening: Exploring Swedish Politics on Corporate Social Responsibility," The British Journal of Criminology, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, vol. 63(5), pages 1184-1198.
    6. Vlaskamp, Martijn C., 2024. "Exploring public support for extraterritorial jurisdiction over natural resource extraction: Survey insights from the United States," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    7. Sheila Killian & Philip O'Regan & Ruth Lynch & Martin Laheen & Dionysios Karavidas, 2022. "Regulating havens: The role of hard and soft governance of tax experts in conditions of secrecy and low regulation," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(3), pages 722-737, July.
    8. Anna-Lena Maier & Dirk Ulrich Gilbert, 2023. "Deliberating with the Autocrats? A Case Study on the Limitations and Potential of Political CSR in a Non-Democratic Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(1), pages 11-32, April.
    9. Nathaniel Tetteh & Stephen Mustchin, 2023. "Contrasting union orientations and engagement with international private regulation: The agency and role of labour in MNC subsidiaries in Ghana," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(3), pages 506-525, September.
    10. GUÉNIN--CARLUT, Avel, 2024. "Is the ecological redirection possible? An ALife perspective on sociocultural evolution in the Anthropocene," OSF Preprints bcyku, Center for Open Science.
    11. Stephanie BARRIENTOS & Lara BIANCHI & Cindy BERMAN, 2019. "Gender and governance of global value chains: Promoting the rights of women workers," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 158(4), pages 729-752, December.

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