Binding rules or voluntary actions? A conceptual framework for CSR in shipping

Abstract

The debates on the need for new approaches to govern the globalized maritime industry and to address the negative environmental and social impacts of shipping have been extensive during the last decade. Public regulation based on international conventions is universal and global in scope, but it is facing several implementation gaps. Private regulation in shipping can complement the public regulation, but it is partial in its scope both thematically and geographically, and it relies on actors’ commitment. Therefore, the central dilemma is how to effectively combine both public and private regulation in shipping in order to make it environmentally, socially and economically sustainable. Given a variety of private forms of regulation, this research concentrates on corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a special form of private self-regulation. Building upon a new institutional framework, this paper seeks to reconstruct the theoretical reasoning behind the expectations that the proliferation of CSR can improve the negative effects of shipping. Based on an extensive review of the literature, the following questions are addressed: (1) How does CSR function as a form of self-regulation in the shipping industry? (2) How can CSR as a form of self-regulation contribute to the renewal of maritime governance to ensure a better quality of shipping? The paper concludes with a discussion of the prospects for co-regulation to address the adverse impacts of shipping.