Business Governance Interactions Research Articles

Who obtains political exemptions? An attention-based analysis of steel tariff exclusion requests

In this paper, we examine firm exclusion requests from the Section 232 tariffs placed on steel articles by President Donald Trump in March of 2018. The Presidential Proclamation that announced these new tariffs also authorized the creation of an exclusion process through which firms that use imported steel can request exemptions from the 2018 steel tariffs if no U.S. steel producer is able to supply the amount and type of steel demanded. Expanding the Attention-Based View (ABV) framework beyond the private sector, we suggest that decision-making by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the approval or denial of steel tariff exclusion requests is influenced by attention to elements of both domestic and international politics. Using a dataset of 163,522 exclusion requests, we find that political alignment and historical trade relationships with exporting countries significantly increase the Department of Commerce’s likelihood of approving exclusion requests. In addition, firm lobbying and the amount of steel requested for exclusion from tariffs have a significant negative impact on the likelihood of approval. This research extends our understanding of business–government interactions, incorporating not only economic and political influences but also the organizational environment, and highlights the importance of attention structures in explaining regulatory outcomes.

The administrative burden of doing business with the government: Learning and compliance costs in Business‐Government interactions

AbstractAdministrative burdens are widespread and likely to generate unequal opportunities in access to government programs and other important entitlements. Whereas a large body of research has examined administrative burdens in citizen‐state encounters, little is known either theoretically or empirically about burdens in business–government interactions. In this article, we argue that private businesses, just like individual citizens, experience administrative burdens in encounters with the government, and that these burdens are the result of bureaucratic procedures as well as the administrative capital resources in the businesses themselves. We present empirical evidence from an original study of Danish businesses' learning and compliance costs in government purchasing contracts. The findings suggest that businesses' learning and compliance costs are shaped more by bureaucratic procedures and requirements than by the administrative capital resources businesses can mobilize in response. We propose steps governments can take to reduce administrative burdens and harness public values in business‐government interactions.

Business-Government Interaction: A Thematic Analysis

Abstract The article analyzes the interaction between business and government, the purpose of which is to identify the leading thematic blocks, where the most significant issues underlying this interaction are concentrated. Highlighting two meanings in the practice of interaction between business and the state, in one of which the state merges with business, and in the other - disagrees with it on key issues, the author proposes to use the theory of stakeholders of I. M. Jawahar and G. L. McLaughlin. The use of this theory allows to identify several types of interaction, including six main functions: facilitating, stimulating, control, sanctions, arbitration and regulatory. The content of these functions is concentrated in the list of basic activities of authorities in the field of regulation of business processes. For the purpose of complex and systematic consideration of these functions, the article proposes a 3D model of interaction between government and business. On the basis of this model the author carries out the content analysis of materials of the leading among businessmen of the Omsk region newspaper “Commercial news” on the basis of which the leading thematic blocks of interaction of the power and business updated by various types of lighting are allocated (analytical article, interview, reportage, a note). The important role of the media in assessing and structuring the relationship between public authorities and business structures determines the usefulness content analysis and the choice of the object of the study. The study highlighted a number of leading thematic blocks of interaction, updated on the pages of the weekly in the period from 2018 to mid-2019. Based on the study, the author identified and ranked thematic blocks considered in the context of his proposed 3D- model, formulated the most characteristic problems of interaction between business and government at the present stage.

Disentangling cross-border interactions

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to disentangle the interactions between logistics operators and government stakeholders in cross-border logistics operations with a specific focus on the UK and Brazil. Design/methodology/approach The research builds on supporting literature. The comparative cases of the UK and Brazil are examined by reference to an extensive series of focus group workshops as well as a series of interviews with key informants. Care was taken to make sure that comprehensive engagement the respective business and government communities were in place, and that there were opportunities to feedback on the analysis. Findings Suggestions were provided on how to improve the business–government interactions in cross-borders logistics operations. The analysis considered transaction costs and scope for trade facilitation. The research also helped produce a descriptive model of business–government interactions in cross-border logistics operations. Research limitations/implications The paper points to new directions in the understanding of how businesses interact with government agencies, and the kind of issues they face in cross-border logistics operations. However, the research only looked at two countries and there is significant scope for further enquiry within the logistics literature. Practical implications Reduced transaction costs at the border and subsequent economic opportunities for the UK and Brazil. Social implications A list of practical reform recommendations informed by the business communities of the UK and Brazil. Originality/value This paper’s original contribution to the literature is its framework for the analysis of transaction costs associated with the business–government interactions in cross-border logistics operations. In addition to the resulting findings in Brazil and the UK it may serve as a template for research elsewhere.

Convergence of innovation policies in the European aerospace industry (1960–2000)

This paper contributes to an understanding of the evolution of the space industry and the role innovation policy and industrial change have played in that process. It looks at the impact of business-government interactions on the emerging space industry and how it evolved from the consolidation of aerospace businesses to the government creating national agencies to support the industry (through the use of innovation policy instruments) at the same time that privatization of the aerospace businesses occurred.We conducted a comparative case study of the aerospace industry in three European countries—France, Italy, and the United Kingdom (the U.K.)—that explores the governments' strategies to develop the emerging space industry. These strategies comprise a mix of innovation instruments, including the establishment of government agencies with the mission of supporting the space industry. The space agencies in each country had a common design that enabled the businesses to become global players in the industry.There is a link between the design of innovation policy mixes and the emerging model of European decentralized governance. This paper contributes to the literature by suggesting that government agencies are instruments of innovation policy for developing innovative industries.

Dynamic De-responsibilization in Business–Government Interactions

I contribute to the ‘political CSR’ debate on whether companies can or should fill public governance gaps by exploring how related business–government interactions may result in corporate social irresponsibility. I studied interactions between mining companies and the government in South Africa between 2002 and 2012, focusing on processes that contributed to the deterioration of living conditions in the Marikana area, site of an infamous massacre in 2012. The analysis resulted in a process model of dynamic de-responsibilization, in which business–government interactions progressively dissipate the adopted and enacted social responsibilities of both the government and business. This extends extant critiques of political CSR and elaborates CSiR as not only a systemic, but also a processual phenomenon, and it focuses related scholarly and practical attention on problematizing the government’s role as custodian of democratic accountability.

Dynamic de-responsibilization in business-government interactions (WITHDRAWN)

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is defined and enacted in a political governance context involving dynamic interactions between business and government. Recent analyses of such interactions g...

Transnational Business Governance Interactions in Food Safety Regulation: Exploring the Promises and Risks of Enrolment

Transnational private regulation has been woven into the fabric of modern food safety governance. In this paper we explore the question of how domestic state actors respond to this development. We address this question in a detailed case study on the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and domestic food safety authorities in Canada, China, the Netherlands and the US. Why and to what extent do these domestic actors engage with GFSI in their regulatory activities, and what are the effects? To develop a better understanding of the how and why of this interaction, the paper builds on the concept of ‘regulatory enrolment’ developed by Black (2003). As will be argued, enrolment offers a proper analytical lens through which the nature of interplay between various actors in a regulatory regime can be better appreciated and the capacity of that regime as a whole can be enhanced in smart and innovative ways.

A System of Transnational Business Interactions: The Case of the Living Wage

The living wage standard has emerged as a norm in global initiatives targeting supply chain labor practices. This is unexpected, because the living wage, if actually paid, could impose substantial new supply chain costs. There is also considerable disagreement on how to calculate a living wage in practice. Therefore, the story of how the living wage ascended to become a standard term found in global labor supply chain initiatives provides an interesting case study on how norms and standards emerge through the complex interplay of transnational business governance (TBG) interactions. The subject of TBG interactions is an emerging field of study. These interactions are complex, involving multiple public and private actors crossing vast geopolitical spaces, with sometimes shared, but often conflicting interests. This complexity makes TBG interactions both an exciting new field of inquiry for scholars, but also an extremely challenging one. In these early days of theory development, it is useful to engage in a mapping exercise that will help scholars identify and test the relationships between the many inputs and outputs of TBG interactions. This paper contributes to this exercise by proposing and developing a basic open systems framework for analyzing TBG interactions. This new systems framework is demonstrated by reference to the complex story of the ‘living wage’ standard in private governance schemes targeting labour practices in global supply chains.

Envisioning Smart Development in Poland from a Triple Helix Systems Perspective: a Critical Assessment of the Morawiecki Plan

The paper explores the newly released plan for innovation-based development for Poland—known as the Morawiecki Plan—from the perspective of the Triple Helix model of University–Business–Government interactions. We start by reviewing the literature on the Triple Helix model and assess its relevance to the reform of the Polish national innovation system. We then examine key elements in the construction of a Triple Helix system in Poland in the period 2007–2014, identifying some mistakes that affect the current functionality of the national innovation system. We then critically analyze the most recent strategic changes proposed under the Morawiecki Plan, drawing on the experiences of benchmark countries similar to Poland, which have successfully gone through the transition from a traditional economy to an open innovative economy. We conclude that strengthening and rebalancing the Triple Helix system in Poland is an essential condition for the successful implementation of the Morawiecki Plan.

The Interaction between FSC Certification and the Implementation of the EU Timber Regulation in Romania

This explorative study aims to shed light on the ways in which Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification interacts with the implementation of the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) in Romania. To this end, the EUTR implementation process is examined, and the relationship between this implementation and FSC certification is explored. There is a particular focus on the extent to which certification has helped companies to comply with EUTR requirements. The study uses the analytical framework of Transnational Business Governance Interactions (TBGI) and a mixed research approach. It is found that FSC certification has to a large extent helped companies to prepare for and align with the EUTR’s requirements, in particular concerning risk assessment and risk mitigation procedures needed for a due diligence system (DDS), and in the context of a “policy vacuum” period related to EUTR implementation. Moreover, recent changes in the FSC standard make it theoretically in line with EUTR requirements. However, difficulties remain in relation to the lack of information, costs and bureaucracy associated with both EUTR implementation and FSC certification. Notably, in the absence of a monitoring organization, the establishment of a viable DDS is still problematic as many companies remain unprepared for developing their own systems. Finally, the EUTR and its risk management requirements may have partly fueled the increase in uptake of chain of custody (CoC) certification in Romania. However, due to the risk of CoC certificates including illegally sourced timber, this recent uptake in certification does not necessarily indicate improved sustainable forest management (SFM) or full compliance with EUTR.

The collaborative realization of public values and business goals: Governance and infrastructure of public–private information platforms

The scale of society's evolving challenges gradually surpasses the capacity of the public sector to address them. Coping with these challenges requires budget-short governments to look for innovative ways to transform and improve their operations and service provisioning models. While in many cases transformation starts from the inside-out (based on policy goals) and focuses on reorganization through ICTs, we notice a different class of initiatives in which external ICT developments are capitalized by governments to transform from the outside-in. One category of ICT innovations that is especially promising for such a transformation is that of information platforms (henceforth platforms), which can be used to connect different stakeholders; public and private. Platforms are not new. Yet, there is not much research on using public–private platforms as part of a transformation effort, the (policy) instruments that are involved, nor about dealing with the cascading multi-level challenges that transformation through platforms offers. This paper addresses these knowledge gaps by drawing on empirical research embedded in two long-term endeavors: (1) standard business reporting between businesses and government agencies and (2) international trade information platforms. In both cases, platforms are being collaboratively developed and used by a collective of public and private organizations. These initiatives reveal that government agencies can steer and shape the development of public–private platforms in a way that enables businesses to pursue their own interest whilst transforming business–government interactions and more generally serving collective interests and public value. Our findings indicate that once a public–private governance structure is accepted by stakeholders and adapted to fit with the technical dimensions of the information infrastructure, even platforms that are driven by the private sector can start to evolve in a way that enables extensive transformation of the operations of government.

Transnational Governance Interactions: A Critical Review of the Legal Literature

Overlaps and interactions among diverse legal rules, actors and orders have long preoccupied legal scholars. This preoccupation has intensified in recent years as transnational efforts to regulate business have proliferated. This proliferation has led to increasingly frequent and intense interactions among transnational regulatory actors and programs. These transnational business governance interactions (TBGI) are the subject of an emerging interdisciplinary research agenda. This paper situates the TBGI research agenda in the broader field of transnational legal theory by presenting a critical review of the ways in which legal scholars have addressed the phenomenon of governance interactions. Legal scholars frequently recognize the importance of transnational governance interactions, but their accounts are tentative and incomplete for the most part. Scholars bring varying — often sharply divergent — theoretical, methodological and normative perspectives to bear on the issue. Some scholars focus on rule formation, others on monitoring or adjudication. Some investigate cooperation and convergence, others conflict and competition. Some examine interactions within a particular organization or program, others among programs or even between entire normative orders. Some emphasize description or explanation, others evaluation or prescription. In short, while understanding intersections among the multiple sites, scales and instances of law is a central concern of transnational legal scholarship, the picture that emerges is incomplete and fragmented.

Mapping the ascendance of the ‘living wage’ standard in non-state global labour codes

The living wage standard has emerged as a norm in global initiatives targeting supply chain labor practices. This is unexpected, because the living wage, if actually paid, could impose substantial new supply chain costs. There is also considerable disagreement on how to calculate a living wage in practice. Therefore, the story of how the living wage ascended to become a standard term found in global labor supply chain initiatives provides an interesting case study on how norms and standards emerge through the complex interplay of transnational business governance (TBG) interactions. The subject of TBG interactions is an emerging field of study. These interactions are complex, involving multiple public and private actors crossing vast geopolitical spaces, with sometimes shared, but often conflicting interests. This complexity makes TBG interactions both an exciting new field of inquiry for scholars, but also an extremely challenging one. In these early days of theory development, it is useful to engage in a mapping exercise that will help scholars identify and test the relationships between the many inputs and outputs of TBG interactions. This paper contributes to this exercise by proposing and developing a basic open systems framework for analyzing TBG interactions. This new systems framework is demonstrated by reference to the complex story of the ‘living wage’ standard in private governance schemes targeting labour practices in global supply chains.

Licensing the gatekeeper? Public pathways, social significance and the ISDA Credit Derivatives Determinations Committees

Regulatory relationships in financial markets exemplify the important and changing nature of transnational business governance interactions (TBGI) which involve reciprocal forces of influence between private and public regulators. We examine one key case of private governance in financial markets: the Credit Derivatives Determinations Committees (DCs) of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA). We find ISDA to be a particularly resilient private regulator in an environment subject both to the significant external shock of the global financial crisis and intense pressure on governmental actors to demonstrate that they are counteracting risk. Clearly, ISDA operates as a key gatekeeper in TBGI, appearing to have a form of ‘regulatory licensing’ power in the DCs. This power is derived in an immediate sense from the propagation of a web of contracts and norms established by market actors, the content of which is substantially derived from instruments such as the Master Agreement, set down by ISDA itself. Equally important, we find that this regulatory licensing capacity is ultimately backstopped by an implicit delegation from public actors, which lends additional legitimacy to the DCs.

Business and human rights: Understanding the UN Guiding Principles from the perspective of transnational business governance interactions

This article analyses the United Nations (UN) Guidelines on Business and Human Rights adopted in 2011 by the UN Human Rights Council from the perspective of transnational business governance interactions (TBGI) analytical framework.11 B Eberlein, KW Abbott, J Black, E Meidinger and S Wood, ‘Transnational Business Governance Interactions: Conceptualization and Framework for Analysis', (2014) 8 (1) Regulation and Governance 1. The article identifies and discusses dimensions of interaction and components of regulatory governance which characterize the Guiding Principles, focusing in particular on rule formation and implementation. The article notes that the Guiding Principles actively enrolled other actors for the rule-making process, ensuring support in a politically and legally volatile field. It identifies mutual ‘piggy-backing’ by the Guiding Principles and other TBGI schemes, complementing the Principles’ very limited limitation and enforcement modalities and lending support to rule-making and implementation of other schemes. The article concludes that the UN Guiding Principles are unique in several areas of relevance to transnational business governance interaction and indicates the relevance of the TBGI approach to public regulatory transnational business governance initiatives. The analysis of the Guiding Principles as interactional transnational business governance suggests that this form of governance offers prospects for public institutions as a means towards regulating global sustainability concerns.

The interactive dynamics of transnational business governance: A challenge for transnational legal theory

Conflict, convergence, cooperation and competition among governance actors and institutions have long fascinated scholars of transnational law, yet transnational legal theorists' accounts of such interactions are for the most part tentative, incomplete and unsystematic. Having elsewhere proposed an overarching conceptual framework for the study of transnational business governance interactions (TBGI), in this article we propose criteria for middle-range theory-building. We argue that a portfolio of theoretical perspectives on transnational governance interactions should account for the multiplicity of interacting entities and scales of interaction; the co-evolution of social agency and structure; the multiple components of regulatory governance; the role of interactions as both influence and outcome; the diverse modes of interaction; the mechanisms and pathways of interaction; and the spatio-temporal dynamics of interaction. To suggest the value of these criteria, we apply them in a preliminary way to selected transnational legal scholarship and to the other articles in this special issue.

Is There Anybody Out There? Analyzing the Regulation of Children's Privacy Online in the United States of America and the European Union According to Eberlein et al. TBGI Analytical Framework

This article analyzes the regulation of children’s privacy online, especially in the context of personal information collection as a commodity, in the United States of America (USA) and the European Union (EU) according to the Transnational Business Governance Interactions analytical framework proposed by Eberlein et al. This article reviews the regulatory structure of the field in these two jurisdictions, including global organizations, according to Elberlein et al components and questions. In the analysis, a map of the regulatory interactions within this global realm will be presented and discussed. Analysis of the influence of each interacting party and the degree of interaction between parties demonstrates that there is a clear dominance of the industry in the regulatory realm of children’s privacy protection online. Therefore it is suggested to include an analysis of the regulatory interactions (e.g., using the TBGI analytical framework by Eberlein et al.) when discussing new or amended regulatory measures in each one of the levels described in this article. This will allow a better understanding of the overall regulatory picture and may prevent a bias towards more powerful actors, such as the industry.

The Interactive Dynamics of Transnational Business Governance: A Challenge for Transnational Legal Theory

Conflict, convergence, cooperation, competition and other interactions among governance actors and institutions have long fascinated scholars of transnational law, yet transnational legal theorists’ accounts of such interactions are for the most part tentative, incomplete and unsystematic. Having elsewhere proposed an overarching conceptual framework for the study of transnational business governance interactions (TBGI), in this article we propose criteria for middle-range theory-building. We argue that a portfolio of theoretical perspectives on transnational governance interactions should account for the multiplicity of interacting entities and scales of interaction; the co-evolution of social agency and structure; the multiple components of regulatory governance; the role of interactions as both influence and outcome; the diverse modes of interaction; the mechanisms and pathways of interaction; and the spatiotemporal dynamics of interaction. To suggest the value of these criteria, we apply them in a preliminary way to selected transnational legal scholarship and to the other articles in this special issue of Transational Legal Theory.

The Rise of Transnational Private Meta-Regulators

In recent years scholars from various disciplines have turned their attention to transnational regimes of regulation that are chiefly developed outside state-driven frameworks. The rise of such “transnational private regulation” has also led to the emergence of private meta-regulation. The term ‘meta-regulation’ commonly refers to processes through which a regulatory body oversees another and sets standards for its activities or performance of regulation. In the public domain, meta-regulation has been associated with the devolution of regulatory activities by a statutory body to private actors with the view to enhance voluntary rule compliance, awareness of responsibilities among the regulated and reduce public enforcement costs. However, in the transnational private domain the rationale for meta-regulation appears to be a different one. We contend that meta-regulation in this domain is less concerned with the goal of enhancing rule compliance and efficiency in enforcement, but instead is more prominently concerned with the bolstering of the integrity, legitimacy and accountability of private regulatory regimes and the coordination between such regimes. To furnish this argument the paper develops a comparative analysis of two sectoral private meta-regulators involved in transnational private regulation: the Global Food Safety Initiative in the food industry and the European Advertising Standards Alliance in the advertising industry. These two organisations have developed guidelines, benchmarks and performance indicators for other private bodies involved in transnational regulatory activities. The comparative analysis is focused around four principled and interlinked questions: (i) What has driven the emergence of meta-regulation in the private regulatory domain?; (ii) What are the forms and functions of private meta-regulation?; (iii) What is its relationship with public regulation and regulators?; and (iv) How and to what extent does private meta-regulation contribute to the legitimization of transnational private regulation?The TBGI Project: Transnational initiatives to regulate business activities interact increasingly with each other and with official regulation, generating complex governance ensembles. Heterogeneous actors and institutions interact at multiple levels and in various ways, from mimicry and cooperation to competition and conflict. The TBGI Project investigates the forms, drivers, mechanisms, dynamics, outputs and impacts of transnational business governance interactions (TBGI) from diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives. It is funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grant led by Professor Stepan Wood, Osgoode.