Global Employer and Business Associations: Their Relations with Members in the Development of Mutual Capacities

Abstract

Abstract Global employer and business associations at the peak level are neglected in research, but this paper argues that it is possible to develop collective action and represent interests in many policy fields through these encompassing entities, and they add to other forms of global business coordination. This study analyses all the global peak associations (International Chamber of Commerce, International Organisation of Employers, World Chambers Federation, Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, B20 Coalition, World Economic Forum and World Business Council for Sustainable Development and it shows that collective action is facilitated through multiple relations between these associations and their members (firms and national associations). Results show that firms and national associations provide important inputs into global associations, and they are active in different leadership functions, while global associations meet a variety of demands from their diverse constituencies and assist members in building capacities. These relations take many different forms, but they are important in all global associations, and the analysis of these patterns of collective action have implications for our understanding of global politics where new approaches are needed to analyse the institutionalisation of business interests. Keywords: Collective action, business, employers, peak associations, global policy, international organisations ----- Bibliography: Ronit, Karsten: Global Employer and Business Associations: Their Relations with Members in the Development of Mutual Capacities, ERIS, 1-2016, pp. 53-77. https://doi.org/10.3224/eris.v3i1.4