Suchergebnisse

Institutional failure remains an important blind spot in the private governance literature. In this article we argue that a focus on scope conditions alone cannot explain why some programs thrive while others cease to exist. Studying the now-defunct Marine Aquarium Council—a certification program for coral reef protection—we adopt an institutional-process approach to fill this gap. Our main points can be summarized in a two-step argument: First, we argue that the scope conditions of private governance are partly endogenous to these processes. Through making strategic decisions, private governance programs have a certain level of control over their environment, and thus over the scope conditions under which they operate. Second, initial choices often unfold path dependencies over time. By tracing the evolution of the Marine Aquarium Council, we illustrate the program's "mission creep" and the "vicious cycle" of self-reinforcing activity that culminated in its failure.

This chapter explores the extent and nature of public support for democracy in Bangladesh by offering a detailed analysis of a nationwide Democracy Poll survey. Although the form of democracy that has evolved in Bangladesh is often portrayed as a core part of the governance problem rather than a solution, political attitudes surveys find that there is overwhelming public support for democracy. The data analysed in this chapter allows us to examine the level of support for democracy and question whether it can accommodate different types of democratic regimes. In particular the chapter extends a comparison between pragmatic and ethical attitudes to democracy, i.e. whether people view democracy as a means to an end and therefore are willing to sacrifice some aspects of democracy if it fails to deliver institutional benefits or whether they see democracy as an end in itself. The chapter concludes that the pragmatic approach to governance is something that the Bangladeshi urban middle class are more likely to consider.

This study examined the inclusion of environment, social and governance (ESG) criteria in the managerial decision-making process. The integration of ESG related information for the UK and French fund managers is discussed in this study. The data regarding managerial beliefs is collected using questionnaires filled by fund managers in the UK and French markets. Overall, our findings are mixed for the significant difference in beliefs. Managers of both countries have common beliefs that the Government demands environmental and social responsibility (ESR), ESR will better manage investment risks and corporate governance (CG) will bolster long-term shareholder value. UK managers believe that CG is the fiduciary obligation of the company while French managers believe that ESR is the fiduciary obligation of the company. UK managers believe that ESR is demanded by the shareholders while French managers have a belief that CG is demanded by the shareholders. French managers have the more favourable view towards ESR. On the other hand, UK managers have balanced beliefs toward CG, and ESR.

South Africa's heralded democratic transition digressed from its 1994 euphoric optimism to a current state of public discontent. This stems from rising unemployment, persistent structural inequality, and a disappointment in the African National Congress-led government's inability to bring true social and economic transformation to fruition. While some scholars attribute this socioeconomic and political predicament to the country's former regimes, others draw close correlations between the country's post-apartheid predicament, ANC leadership, and the country's official adoption of neoliberal economic policies in 1996. Central to this post-euphoric moment is the country's Born-Free generation, particularly Black youth, coming of political age in an era of supposed political freedom, social equality, and economic opportunities. But recent student movements evidence young people's disillusionment with the country's democratic transition. Such disillusionment is not unfounded, considering the 35% youth unemployment rate and questionable standards in primary education. Compared to their urban peers, rural youth are at an even greater disadvantage, far removed from urban resources and opportunities. Against this post-apartheid moment, my research investigates the political perceptions of rural South African youth. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork in the rural Eastern Cape Province, I find youth's political perceptions embedded in themes of employment, dependence, and political performance. Youth use these concepts, not only to interpret the post-apartheid state and frame their government expectations but also to make sense of their surrounding socioeconomic environments. Drawing from scholarship on neoliberal governmentality and considering the post-apartheid state's contradictory nature, I argue that young South Africans' interpretations of their immediate social realities draw from a deeper lying neoliberal logic. This logic places economic and social responsibility upon individuals, celebrates independence from ...

Constructing multilateral rules to govern trade in agricultural goods has been notoriously difficult. What success there has been relied on linking liberalization in agriculture to broader deals involving multiple sectors through the principle of the single undertaking, but the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Nairobi ministerial conference of 2015 has abandoned that principle, shifting the multilateral trade system onto a new trajectory. Using the broad body of political economy theory, this article argues that there is now very little prospect that the WTO will be able to liberalize agricultural trade, with the consequence that the WTO will be unable to expand the trade opportunities of those countries that specialize in producing agricultural commodities. For this reason, the multilateral trade system looks increasingly ill-suited to the commercial needs of those low-income countries that are reliant on exporting agricultural goods and the promise of development through expanding trade based on comparative advantage is being tacitly pushed aside. This article argues that the abandonment of the single undertaking demands a deep reflection by WTO member states and other stakeholders on the underlying principles of the WTO, its future direction and how trade opportunities will be created for all within a system that has effectively abandoned further liberalization within agriculture.

Die effektive Überwachung der Geschäftsführung stellt das Kernproblem einer jeden Aktiengesellschaft dar. Ein Instrument zum Ausgleich der Überwachungsdefizite ist der unabhängige Direktor. Er gehört weltweit zum Standard guter Corporate Governance, ist jedoch zunehmend in die Kritik geraten. Seine Rezeption in Japan hat demgegenüber erst in jüngerer Vergangenheit vor dem Hintergrund des Wirtschaftsprogramms Abenomics an Fahrt aufgenommen. Torsten Spiegel geht der Frage nach, wie sich der unabhängige Direktor in das bislang weitgehend vor unternehmensexternem Einfluss abgeschottete System der Corporate Governance in Japan einfügt. Er leitet aus seinen rechtsvergleichenden Untersuchungen zu den USA, dem Vereinigten Königreich und Deutschland ein Analysekonzept ab. Anhand dessen untersucht er sowohl die strukturellen Rahmenbedingungen als auch die bisherige Ausgestaltung des unabhängigen Direktors in Japan.

Corporate governance involves not only working out the relationship between a company and its shareholders, but also a search for consistency on a daily basis. When consistency is achieved, the shareholders' satisfaction is higher and relations improve. Consistency is a prerequisite for a company's effectiveness and efficiency, and it is the board's task to make a corporation consistent. The first part of the paper introduces M. Flieger's concept of corporate consistency, where platforms of consistency are introduced and the consistency model is proposed. This is the first time that such an introduction has been made, and this may lead to further discussion and research. The author points out that managers are rarely aware of the consistency problem, and there are no tools which enable a consistent system to be worked out. This makes the concept of corporate consistency worth investigating. In the second part of the paper, R. Kaminski focuses on the development of the European Union and Polish regulations, which were introduced as a consequence of the changing conditions in company activity. This section determines the content and sequence of the main issues discussed in the article. These include: the characteristics of the concept of a corporate governance system, the presentation of changes in regulations regarding a corporate governance system in the EU and the presentation of Polish regulations on corporate governance. The primary sources used in the work were literature and the rules and standards (mandatory and optional) on corporate governance. Both authors used descriptive analysis and the comparative method.

Acknowledging the limitations of traditional, mandatory governance instruments (building codes, planning legislation) to achieve low-carbon buildings, governments, firms and other organizations have been experimenting with alternatives. This trend has become known as the 'new governance'. This paper brings together 50 new-governance instruments to understand better this new governance for low-carbon buildings, and what may be expected from it. It finds that new-governance instruments fall short in exactly the same areas as do traditional instruments. It argues for a change in the application of new-governance instruments along three paths to improve their performance.