Netzwerkgovernance: Corporate Citizenship und Global Governance

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Netzwerkgovernance: Corporate Citizenship und Global Governance

Aus der Perspektive einer gesellschaftsorientierten Managementlehre geht die Studie der Frage nach, wie globale Politiknetzwerke durch entsprechende institutionelle Maßnahmen gestaltet werden können, um (1) ein effektives Instrument von Corporate Citizenship-Strategien zu sein und (2) nicht der demokratischen Legitimität zu entbehren. Damit lautet die Leitfrage der Arbeit: Wie lässt sich Netzwerkgovernance durch globale Politiknetzwerke vor dem Hintergrund des Weltgipfels für Nachhaltige Entwicklung effektiver und legitimer gestalten? Der Leitfrage wird in drei Schritten nachgegangen: theoretische Verknüpfung und Hypothesenbildung, Hypothesentest und schließlich konzeptionelle Vorschläge. Die Bildung von Netzwerken wird systematisch in der Handlungslogik von Corporate Citizenship-Strategien verortet und es wird nach den strukturellen Bedingungen des internationalen Systems für die Beteiligung von Unternehmen an globalen Politiknetzwerken gefragt. Anschließend wird der Blick auf das Phänomen Netzwerk fokussiert. Es wird nach einem theoretischen Fundament gesucht, der strukturationstheoretische Netzwerkansatz als solches gewählt und dieser mit der Sozialkapitaltheorie verknüpft. Damit wird ein grundlegendes Netzwerkverständnis eingeführt, auf dem der konzeptionelle Part zur effektiveren und legitimeren Gestaltung von globalen Politiknetzwerken aufbaut. Abschließend wird ein Chancen- und Risikoprofil globaler Politiknetzwerke hinsichtlich ihrer Effektivität und Legitimität auf der Grundlage theoretischer Überlegungen ermittelt.Das so gewonnene Hypothesenset wird am Beispiel des Weltgipfels für Nachhaltige Entwicklung - als dem Prisma unternehmerischer Strukturpolitik - im historischen Kontext geprüft. (ICA2

Why nations lead or lag in energy transitions

Policy-driven change hinges on institutions that support insulation or compensationaRussia’s invasion of Ukraine has disrupted energy markets, producing price spikes reminiscent of the 1970s. Many suggest that the crisis may accelerate transitions away from fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yet, governments have responded very differently to the price shock. Though some are prioritizing clean energy, others are doubling down on fossil fuel production. Why do countries respond so differently to the same problem? Access to domestic fossil fuel resources is only part of the story. Countries also vary in the political sources that enable transformational change in energy and climate policy (1, 2). We draw on two historical episodes illustrating variation in energy transitions across countries—the 1970s oil shocks, and policies to address climate change—to offer important lessons on the political opportunities and constraints for policy-makers across different countries to accelerate the transition to clean energy

The Globalization of Carbon Trading: Transnational Business Coalitions in Climate Politics

Over the past decade, carbon trading has emerged as the policy instrument of choice in the industrialized world to address global climate change. In this article I argue that a transnational business coalition, representing mostly energy firms and energy-intensive manufacturers, actively promoted the global rise of carbon trading. In this process, business was able to draw on the support of government allies and business-oriented environmental groups, particularly in the UK and the US. Alongside its allies, the coalition had pivotal influence in the internationalization of carbon trading through the Kyoto Protocol, in the U-turn of the EU from skeptic to frontrunner on carbon trading and in the re-import of carbon trading to the US. While business was not able to prevent mandatory emission controls, it was able to critically affect the regulatory style of climate policy in favor of low-cost, market-based options. (c)© 2011 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Protecting Solar: Global Supply Chains and Business Power

Governments invested substantially in renewable energy industries in responding to climate change, while seeking to promote economic growth. They also engaged in a series of major trade disputes, notably in the solar photovoltaic and wind sectors. The European Union (EU)– China solar dispute is one of the largest such cases. In 2013, the European Commission (EC) announced duties on imports of solar products from Chinese manufacturers. This decision was at odds with the fact that the majority of the European solar industry opposed tariffs. We propose that the decision was affected by a shift in negotiating power between business and the EC. We suggest that the rise of global supply chains undermined the structural power of industry by dividing manufacturers over trade policy and by fragmenting the information conveyed to policy-makers. This provided an opportunity to the Commission to engage in ‘interest shopping’ by selecting an industry position that matched its own interest. Evidence from a comparative case study on EU and German responses to solar imports supports our argument. The findings suggest that the globalisation of production can strengthen the negotiating power of policy-makers, and implies that policy-makers face new trade-offs at the intersection of manufacturing and climate policy.The authors would like to thank Winkler Family Foundation, Social Science Research Council, and Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership for financial support

Global interdependence in clean energy transitions

The global energy industry is transforming as governments invest in clean energy technologies to address climate change, enhance energy security, and strengthen national competitiveness. Comparative research on clean energy transitions highlights the domestic drivers and constraints of clean energy transitions. This article contends that we need to understand the effects of global interdependence on clean energy transitions. Shifts in forms of interdependence between firms—influenced by the rise of global supply chains—have new implications for policy choices made by governments. Governments face more complex demands from domestic industries facing global economic competition, and act strategically in response to the actions of other governments, including sub-national actors, and firms in the global economy. We suggest that research on interdependence in clean energy transitions benefits from an analytical focus on mechanisms of transnational change such as cross-national and multi-level policy feedback and cross-national policy sequencing. Global interdependence has important implications for economic and environmental outcomes, affecting the durability of competitive advantage, and influencing the pace of the diffusion of clean energy technologies

Policy competition in clean technology: Scaling up or innovating up?

Governments support clean technologies to advance both environmental goals and national competitiveness. By adopting environmental policies early on, governments are argued to create durable competitive advantages for domestic companies that develop clean technologies for export to late adopters. This paper argues that policy competition between lead and follower markets conditions the ability of governments to create durable competitive advantages in low-carbon technologies. Depending on the complexity of the technology, we observe two patterns of green industrial policy competition. In low-complexity technologies, such as solar photovoltaics, follower markets are likely to adopt policies that support manufacturing capacity to rapidly achieve price advantages from economies of scale, with global supply chains intensifying this competition (“scaling up”). In high-complexity technologies, such as electric vehicles, follower markets are likely to adopt policies that support research and development to develop differentiated high-tech products for export (“innovating up”). We also suggest that new forms of interdependence in policy competition can affect the political sustainability of lead market policies. Competition in scaling-up is more likely to undermine political coalitions in favor of government support for low-carbon technologies, while innovating-up dynamics embed political coalitions that support lead market policies for low-carbon technologies

Globalizing Solar: Global Supply Chains and Trade Preferences

Global production is increasingly organized through supply chains made up of firms that specialize in specific stages of production. This raises an important question: how does firms’ participation in global supply chains affect their trade preferences? Research shows that multinational corporations (MNCs) tend to prefer open trade, while domestic import-competing firms favor trade protection. We argue that the globalization of production also leads vertically specialized firms—those specializing in specific stages of the production process—to support open trade. Using firm-level data from the solar photovoltaics industry, we show that vertically specialized firms prefer open trade if they have ties to global supply chains. We present evidence that three sets of vertically specialized firms tend to favor open trade: upstream suppliers of inputs to a global supply chain, global manufacturers that import inputs, and downstream users of final products. Our findings suggest that the rise of global value chains shifts the politics of globalization: it expands firm coalitions in favor of open trade. Our findings also matter for an important public-policy concern: climate change. Governments face cross-cutting demands from solar firms over trade policy, dividing the growth coalition supporting clean energy technologies