IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/reggov/v8y2014i1p126-148.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Confronting trade‐offs and interactive effects in the choice of policy focus: Specialized versus comprehensive private governance

Author

Listed:
  • Graeme Auld

Abstract

In setting standards for responsible business practices, certification programs create issue boundaries delineated by the focus of their standards. These issue boundaries may impede action on certain causes of problems (i.e. problem interactive effects) or lead to policy actions that affect other governance initiatives (i.e. policy interactive effects). When these interactions are extensive, programs confront trade‐offs: develop as a comprehensive program (i.e. have a broad policy focus) and take on higher internal administrative costs, or develop as a specialized program (i.e. have a narrow policy focus) and undertake to develop mechanisms to facilitate across‐program coordination. This paper explores these trade‐offs. It examines the origins of the different policy foci of coffee, forest, and fisheries certification programs, and identifies five strategies that programs are currently using to manage policy and/or problem interactive effects. Then, informed by research in public administration and international relations, it details additional approaches for improving issue‐boundary management.

Suggested Citation

  • Graeme Auld, 2014. "Confronting trade‐offs and interactive effects in the choice of policy focus: Specialized versus comprehensive private governance," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(1), pages 126-148, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:reggov:v:8:y:2014:i:1:p:126-148
    DOI: 10.1111/rego.12034
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12034
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/rego.12034?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Steven Sorrell, 2003. "Carbon Trading in the Policy Mix," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 19(3), pages 420-437.
    2. Lawrence H. Goulder & Ian W.H. Parry & Dallas Burtraw, 2002. "Revenue-Raising versus Other Approaches to Environmental Protection: The Critical Significance of Preexisting Tax Distortions," Chapters, in: Lawrence H. Goulder (ed.), Environmental Policy Making in Economies with Prior Tax Distortions, chapter 24, pages 447-470, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. 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.
    4. Sutton, M., 1996. "The Marine Stewardship Council: new hope for marine fisheries," Naga, The WorldFish Center, vol. 19(3), pages 10-12.
    5. Maria L. Loureiro & Jill J. McCluskey & Ron C. Mittelhammer, 2003. "Are Stated Preferences Good Predictors of Market Behavior?," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 79(1), pages 44-45.
    6. Gulbrandsen, Lars H., 2009. "The emergence and effectiveness of the Marine Stewardship Council," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 654-660, July.
    7. Ruggie, John Gerard, 2004. "Reconstituting the Global Public Domain: Issues, Actors and Practices," Working Paper Series rwp04-031, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    8. Sasser, Erika N. & Prakash, Aseem & Cashore, Benjamin & Auld, Graeme, 2006. "Direct Targeting as an NGO Political Strategy: Examining Private Authority Regimes in the Forestry Sector," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 1-32, December.
    9. Hoffmann, Matthew J., 2011. "Climate Governance at the Crossroads: Experimenting with a Global Response after Kyoto," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195390087.
    10. -, 1986. "Agenda = Agenda," Series Históricas 8749, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    11. Sasser Erika N. & Prakash Aseem & Cashore Benjamin & Auld Graeme, 2006. "Direct Targeting as an NGO Political Strategy: Examining Private Authority Regimes in the Forestry Sector," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 8(3), pages 1-34, December.
    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. Benjamin Cashore & Jette Steen Knudsen & Jeremy Moon & Hamish van der Ven, 2021. "Private authority and public policy interactions in global context: Governance spheres for problem solving," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(4), pages 1166-1182, October.
    2. Richard W. Carney & Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Jane W. Lu & He Wang, 2022. "Political corporate social responsibility: The role of deliberative capacity," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(8), pages 1766-1784, 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. Frank Wijen & Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline, 2019. "Controversy Over Voluntary Environmental Standards: A Socioeconomic Analysis of the Marine Stewardship Council," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-02071504, HAL.
    2. Heidingsfelder, Jens, 2019. "Private sustainability governance in the making – A case study analysis of the fragmentation of sustainability governance for the gold sector," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1-1.
    3. Steven Bernstein & Benjamin Cashore, 2007. "Can non‐state global governance be legitimate? An analytical framework," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 1(4), pages 347-371, December.
    4. Chris F. Wright, 2016. "Leveraging Reputational Risk: Sustainable Sourcing Campaigns for Improving Labour Standards in Production Networks," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 195-210, August.
    5. John S. Ahlquist & Layna Mosley, 2021. "Firm participation in voluntary regulatory initiatives: The Accord, Alliance, and US garment importers from Bangladesh," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 317-343, April.
    6. Kadam, Parag & Dwivedi, Puneet & Karnatz, Caroline, 2021. "Mapping convergence of sustainable forest management systems: Comparing three protocols and two certification schemes for ascertaining the trends in global forest governance," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    7. Olson, Julia & Clay, Patricia M. & Pinto da Silva, Patricia, 2014. "Putting the seafood in sustainable food systems," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 104-111.
    8. Carolyn Fischer & Thomas P. Lyon, 2014. "Competing Environmental Labels," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 692-716, September.
    9. Polakova, Aija, 2018. "Name and shame? Evidence from the European Union tax haven blacklist," Discussion Papers 2018/18, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    10. Stoll, Joshua S. & Johnson, Teresa R., 2015. "Under the banner of sustainability: The politics and prose of an emerging US federal seafood certification," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 415-422.
    11. Baron, David P., 2011. "Credence attributes, voluntary organizations, and social pressure," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(11), pages 1331-1338.
    12. Andrea Prado & Arch Woodside, 2015. "Deepening Understanding of Certification Adoption and Non-Adoption of International-Supplier Ethical Standards," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 105-125, November.
    13. Lily Hsueh & Aseem Prakash, 2012. "Incentivizing self‐regulation: Federal vs. state‐level voluntary programs in US climate change policies," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(4), pages 445-473, December.
    14. Erin Leitheiser, 2021. "How domestic contexts shape international private governance: The case of the European Accord and American Alliance in Bangladesh," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(4), pages 1286-1303, October.
    15. Geoffrey Martin & Luis R. Gómez–Mejía & Pascual Berrone & Marianna Makri, 2017. "Conflict between Controlling Family Owners and Minority Shareholders: Much Ado about Nothing?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(6), pages 999-1027, November.
    16. van der Loos, Hendrik Z. Adriaan & Kalfagianni, Agni & Biermann, Frank, 2018. "Global aspirations, regional variation? Explaining the global uptake and growth of forestry certification," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 41-50.
    17. Zezza, Annalisa, 2012. "CERTIFICATION ON SUSTAINABILITY IN THE BIOFUEL SECTOR: a case study on Brazilian ethanol," 2012 First Congress, June 4-5, 2012, Trento, Italy 124112, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA).
    18. Ingrid van Putten & Catherine Longo & Ashleigh Arton & Matt Watson & Christopher M Anderson & Amber Himes-Cornell & Clara Obregón & Lucy Robinson & Tatiana van Steveninck, 2020. "Shifting focus: The impacts of sustainable seafood certification," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(5), pages 1-24, May.
    19. Philipp Pattberg & Cille Kaiser & Oscar Widerberg & Johannes Stripple, 2022. "20 Years of global climate change governance research: taking stock and moving forward," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 295-315, June.
    20. Erica Johnson & Aseem Prakash, 2007. "NGO research program: a collective action perspective," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 40(3), pages 221-240, September.

    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:wly:reggov:v:8:y:2014:i:1:p:126-148. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1748-5991 .

    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.