Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-7jgsp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-30T14:38:56.625Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Explaining Regulatory Preferences: CSR, Soft Law, or Hard Law? Insights from a Survey of Nordic Pioneers in CSR

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Maria Gjølberg
Maria Gjølberg*
Affiliation:
University of Oslo
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Business is often assumed to resist increased social and environmental regulation, preferring voluntary or soft-law approaches to global governance. This article analyzes the dynamics between CSR, soft law, and hard law by exploring corporate attitudes in the Nordic area towards CSR and regulation'an area reputed to be a forerunner in both CSR and social and environmental regulation. The analysis, based on a survey of the Nordic companies with the strongest CSR performance, reveals skepticism towards relying on CSR and voluntary approaches, combined with a very strong preference for increased international regulation of social and environmental issues. Drawing on insights from recent analyses in the governance literature, the article discusses the conditions under which business favors increased social and environmental regulation, concluding that corporate self-interest and increased international regulation can indeed coincide.

Keywords

corporate social responsibilityhard lawsoft lawregulatory preferencesbusiness strategy

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Business and Politics , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , August 2011 , pp. 1 - 31
Copyright
Copyright © V.K. Aggarwal 2011 and published under exclusive license to Cambridge University Press 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Abbott, Kenneth W, and Snidal, Duncan. 2000. Hard Law and Soft Law in International Governance. International Organization 54 (3): 421–456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abbott, Kenneth W, and Snidal, Duncan. 2009. The Governance Triangle: Regulatory Standards Institutions and the Shadow of the State. In The Politics of Global Regulation, edited by Mattli, W. and Woods, N. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
90 Bernstein and Cashore 2007, Pattberg 2006.Google Scholar
Andersen, Torben M, Holmström, Bengt, Honkapohja, Seppo, Korkman, Sixten, Söderström, Hns T, and Vartiainen, Juhana. 2007. The Nordic Model: Embracing Globalization and Sharing Risks. Helsinki: The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA).Google Scholar
Bakan, Joel. 2004. The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Bendell, Jem, and Kearins, Kate. 2005. The Political Bottom Line: the Emerging Dimension to Corporate Responsibility for Sustainable Development. Business Strategy and the Environment 14: 372–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernstein, Steven, and Cashore, Benjamin. 2007. Can non-state global governance be legitimate? An analytical framework. Regulation & Governance 1: 347–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhattacharya, C. B., Sen, Sankar, and Korschum, Daniel. Using Corporate Social Responsibility to Win the War for Taleny. MIT Sloan Management Review 40 (2): 36–44.Google Scholar
Birkin, Frank, Polesie, Thomas, and Lewis, Linda. 2009. A new business model for sustainable development: an exploratory study using the theory of constraints in Nordic organizations. Business Strategy and the Environment 18 (5): 277–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blowfield, Michael. 2005. Corporate Social Responsibility – The Failing Discipline and Why it Matters to International Relations. International Relations 19 (2): 173–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boasson, Elin. 2009. On the management success of regulative failure: Standardised CSR instruments and the oil industry's climate performance. Corporate Governance 9 (3): 313–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braithwaite, John, and Drahos, Peter. 2000. Global Business Regulation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buhman, Karin. 2010. Reflexive regulation of CSR to promote sustainability: Understanding EU public-private regulation on CSR through the case of human rights. Oslo: University of Oslo, Faculty of Law, Legal Studies Research Paper Series.Google Scholar
Byrkjeflot, Haldor, Myklebust, Sissel, Myrvang, Christine, and Sejersted, Francis. 2001. The Democratic Challenge to Capitalism. Management and Democracy in the Nordic Countries. Oslo: Fagbokforlaget.Google Scholar
Carroll, Archie B. 2008. A History of Corporate Social Responsibility. Concepts and Practices. In The Oxford Handbook on Corporate Social Responsibility, edited by Crane, A., McWilliams, A., Matten, D., Moon, J. and Siegel, D. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cox, Robert. 2004. The Path-dependency of an Idea: Why Scandinavian Welfare States Remain Distinct. Social Policy and Administration 38 (2): 204–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crane, A, McWilliams, A, Matten, D, Moon, J, and Siegel, D. 2008. The Corporate Social Responsibility Agenda. In The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility, edited by Crane, A., McWilliams, A., Matten, D., Moon, J. and Siegel, D. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahl, Hans F. 1984. The Nordic Enigma – Those Equal Folk. Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 113 (1): 93–107.Google Scholar
Dashwood, Hevina S. 2004. Corporatee Social Responsibility and the Evolution of International Norms.Google Scholar
DeSombre, Elizabeth. 2000. Domestic Sources of International Environmental Policy. Industry, Environmentalists, and U.S. Power. Cambridge The MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeSombre, Elizabeth 1995. Baptists and Bootleggers for the Environment: The Origins of United States Unilateral Sanctions. The Journal of Environment Development. 4 (1): 53–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doane, Deborah. 2005. Beyond corporate social responsibility: minnows, mammoths and markets. Futures 37: 215–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elkington, John. 1998. Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st-Century Business: New Society Publishers.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, Gosta, ed. 1990. The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Union, European, Commission of the 2001. Promoting a European framework for Corporate Social Responsibility. European Union.Google Scholar
Falkner, Robert. 2008. Business Pow3er and Conflict in International Environmental Politics. Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan.Google Scholar
Fuchs, Doris. 2007. Business Power in Global Governance. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gjølberg, Maria. 2009. Measuring the immeasurable? Constructing an index of CSR practices and performance in 20 countries. Scandinavian Journal of Management 25 (1).Google Scholar
Gjølberg, Maria. 2009. The origin of corporate social responsibility: global forces or national legacies? Socio-Economic Review 7 (4): 1–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grenness, Tor. 2003. Scandinavian Managers on Scandinavian Management. International Journal of Value-Based Management 16: 9–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gunningham, Neil, and Kagan, Robert A. 2005. Regulation and business behaviour. Law & Policy 27 (2).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Peter A, and Soskice, David. 2001. An Introduction to Varieties of Capitalism. In Varieties of Capitalism. The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage, edited by Hall, P. A. and Soskice, D. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haufler, Virgina. 2001. A Public Role for the Private Sector: Industry Self-Regulation in a Global Economy. Washington: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.Google Scholar
Hirschland, Matthew J. 2006. Corporate Social Responsibility and the Shaping of Global Public Policy. New York: Palgrave MacMilan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffman, Andrew J. 2000. Competitive Environmental Strategy. A Guide to Changing Business Landscape. Washington: Island Press.Google Scholar
Jensen, Michael. 2001. Value Maximisation, Stakeholder Theory, and the Corporate Objective Function. European Financial Management 7 (3): 297–317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnstone, Nick, Scapecchi, Pascale, Ytterhus, Bjarne, and Wolff, Rolf. 2004. The Firm, Environmental Management and Environmental Measures: Lessons from a Survey of European Manufacturing Firms. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 47 (5): 685–707.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kinderman, Daniel. 2008. The Political Economy of Corporate Responsibility in Germany, 1995–2008. In Germany in Global Economic Governance, edited by C. U. Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. New York: Cornell University.Google Scholar
Kirton, John J, and Michael Trebilock, J. 2004. Introduction: Hard Choices and Soft Law in Sustainable Global Governance. In Hard Choices, Soft Law. Voluntary Standards in Global Trade, Environment and Social Governance, edited by Kirton, J. J. and Trebilcock, M., Aldershot, J.: Ashgate Publishing Limited.Google Scholar
Kuisma, Mikko. 2007. Social Democratic Internationalism and the Welfare State After the ‘Golden Age’. Cooperation and Conflict. Journal of the Nordic International Studies Association 42 (1): 9–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kurucz, Elizabeth, Colbert, Barry, and Wheeler, David. 2008. The Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility. In The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility, edited by Crane, A., McWilliams, A., Matten, D., Moon, J. and Siegel, D. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lafferty, William, and Meadowcroft, James. 2000. Patterns of Governmental Engagement. In Implementing Sustainable Development in High Consumption Societies, edited by Lafferty, W. and Meadowcroft, J. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levy, David L. 1997. Environmental Management as Political Sustainability. Organization and Envrionment 10 (2): 126–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levy, David L, and Kaplan, Rami. 2008. Introduction: The Rise of Corporate Socail Responsibility in Global Issue Arenas. In The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility, edited by Crane, A., McWilliams, A., Matten, D., Moon, J. and Siegel, D. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lindell, Marin, and Karagozoglu, Necmi. 2001. Corporate Environmental Behaviour – A Comparison between Nordic and US Firms Business Strategy and the Environment 10: 38–52.3.0.CO;2-C>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
March, James G., and Olsen, Johan P. 2004. The logic of appropriateness. edited by A. C. f. E. Studies. Oslo: University of Oslo.Google Scholar
Marcus, Joel, Kurucz, Elizabeth C., and Colbert, Barry Colbert. 2009. Conceptions of the Business, Society, Nature Interface: Implications for Business and Society Scholarship. Business & Society 49 (4): 402–3438 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Margolis, Joshua D, and Walsh, James P. 2003. Misery Loves Companies: Rethinking Social Initiatives by Business. Administrative Science Quarterly 48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matten, Dirk, and Moon, Jeremy. 2008 “Implicit” and “Explicit” CSR: A conceptual framework for a comparative understanding of corporate social responsibility. Academy of Management Review 33 (2): 404–424.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mattli, Walter, and Woods, Ngaire. 2009. In Whose Benefit? Exploring Regulatory Change in Global Politics. In The Politics of Global Regulations, edited by Mattli, W. and Woods, N. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayer, Frederick, and Gereffi, Gary. 2010. Regulation and Economic Globalization: Prospects and Limits of Private Governance. Business and Politics 12 (3): 1–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCallin, Jessica, and Webb, Tobias. 2004. Corporate responsibility progress in Scandinavia. Ethical Corporation.Google Scholar
Meckling, Jonas. 2008. Corporate Policy Preferences in the EU and the US. Emissions Trading as the Climate Compromise? Carbon and Climate Law Review 2: 172–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Midttun, A, Gautesen, K, and Gjølberg, M. 2006. The Political Economy of CSR in Western Europe. Corporate Governance – The International Journal of Business in Society 6 (4): 369–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moon, Jeremy, and Vogel, David. 2008. Corporate Social Responsibility, Government and Civil Society. In The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility, edited by Crane, A., McWilliams, A., Matten, D., Moon, J. and Siegel, D. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Newell, Peter. 2000. Globalisation and the new politics of sustainable development. In Terms for Endearment – Business, NGOs and Sustainable Development, edited by Bendell, J. Sheffield: Greenleaf Publishing Limited.Google Scholar
Author, Repeated. 2005. Business and International Environmental Governance: The State of the Art. In: The Business of Global Environmental Governance, edited by Levy, D. L. and Newell, P. Camebridge: The MIT Press Google Scholar
Council, Nordic. 2005. Nordic Sustainability Index II. An analysis of the 50 most sustainable companies in the Nordic area [Analyse af 50 af de mest bæredygtige virksomheder i Norden. In Tema Nord. Copenhagen: Nordic Council.Google Scholar
Pattberg, Philip. 2006. The Influence of Global Business Regulation: Beyond Good Corporate Conduct’. Business and Society Review 113 (3): 241–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, Michael E., and Mark Kramer, R. 2006. Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility. Harvard Business Review 84 (12): 78–92.Google Scholar
Posner, Richard A. 1974. Theories of economic regulation. The Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science 5 (2): 335–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Preuss, Lutz, Haunschild, Axel, and Matten, Dirk. 2006. Trade Unions and CSR: A European Research Agenda. Journal of Public Affairs 6: 256–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reinhart, Forest L. 2000. Down to Earth. Applying Business Principles to Environmental Management Boston: Harvard Business School Press.Google Scholar
Riechter, Judith. 2002. Codes in Context TNC Regulation in an Era of Dialogues and Partnerships. In Briefing 26: TNC Regulation, Dialogues and Partnerships, edited by The Corner House. Dorset.Google Scholar
Rowlands, Ian H. 2001. Transnational Corporations and Global Environmental Politics. In Non-State Actors in World Politics, edited by Josselin, D. and Wallace, W. New Yordk: Palgrave.Google Scholar
Ruggie, John G. 2003. Taking Embedded Liberalism Global: The Corporate Connection. In Taming Globalization: Frontiers of Governance, edited by Held, D. and Koenig-Archibugi, M. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Schaffer, Gergory C., and Pollack, Mark A. 2010. Hard vs. Soft Law: Alternatives, Complements, and Antagonists in International Governance. Minnesota Law Review 94: 712–798.Google Scholar
Scherer, Andreas, and Palazzo, Guido. 2008. Clobalization and Corporate Social Responsibility. In The Oxford Handbook on Corporate Social Responsibility, edited by Crane, A., McWilliams, A., Matten, D., Moon, J. and Siegel, D. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sell, Susan K. 2003. Private Power, Public Law: The Globalization of Intellectual Property Rights, Cambridge Studies in International Relations. Camebridge: Camebridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheehan, K. B. 2001. E-mail Survey Response Rates: A Review. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 6 (2).Google Scholar
Shih, Tse-Hua, and Fan, Xitao. 2008. Comparing Response Rates from Web and Mail Surveys: A Meta-Analysis. Field Methods 20 (3): 249–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skjærseth, Jon B., Stokke, Olav S., and Wettestad, Jørgen. 2006. Soft Law, Hard Law and Effective Implementation of International Environmental Norms. Global Environmental Politics 6 (3): 104–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiglitz, Joseph E. 2003. Globalization and its Discontents. New York: Norton & Company Inc.Google Scholar
Stopford, John, and Strange, Susan. 1991. Rival States, Rival Firms. Competition for world market shares. New York: Camebridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Story, Jonathan 1999. The Emerging World Financial Order and Different Forms of Capitalism. In Political Economy and the Changing Global Order, edited by Stubbs, R. and Underhill, G. Ontario: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tunkrova, Lucie. 2008. The Nordic Countries’ “Exceptionalism” in EU Environmental Policy. Contemporary European Studies 2: 21–46.Google Scholar
Utting, Peter. 2000. Business Responsibility for Sustainable Development. In UNRISD Discussion Papers. Geneva: UNRISD.Google Scholar
Utting, Peter, and Marques, Jose Carlos. 2009. Introduction: The Intellectual Crisis of CSR. In Corporate Social Responsibility and Regulatory Governance. Towards Inclusive Development?, edited by Utting, P. and Marques, J. C. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.Google Scholar
Vogel, David. 2005. The Market for Virtue. The Potential and Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility. Washington: Brookings.Google Scholar
Author, Repeated. 2009. The Private Regulation of Global Corporate Conduct. In The Politics of Global Regulation, edited by Mattli, W. and Woods, M. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Vogel, David 1995. Trading Up. Consumer and Environmental Regulations in a Global Economy Cambridge Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Vormedal, Irja. 2008. The Influence of Business and Industry NGOs in the Negotiation of the Kyoto Mechanisms: the Case of Carbon Capture and Storage in the CDM. Global Environmental Politics 8 (4): 36–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Author, Repeated. 2010 States and Markets in Global Environmental Governance: on the Role of Tipping Points in International Regime Formation. European Journal of International Relations 18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WBCSD. 2002. The Business Case for Sustainable Development. Making a Difference Towards the Johannesburg Summit 2002 and Beyond. Geneve: World Business Council for Sustainable Development.Google Scholar
Williams, Cynthia, and Aguilera, Ruth. 2008. Corporate Social Responsibility in a Comparative Perspective. In The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility, edited by Crane, A., McWilliams, A., Matten, D., Moon, J. and Siegel, D. Oxford: Oxford Universty Press.Google Scholar
World Economic Forum. 2003. Responding to the Leadership Challenge: Findings of a CEO Survey on Global Corporate Citizenship. World Economic Forum and The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum Google Scholar
Ytterhus, Bjarne, and Synnestvedt, Terje. 1996. The Process of Greening: Results from the Nordic Business Environmental Barometer. Eco-Management and Auditing 3 (1): 30–36.3.0.CO;2-S>CrossRefGoogle Scholar