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Explicit barriers to international trade, investment, technology, and financial flows have been reduced considerably. As a result, “macro-liberalization” of international economic transactions has largely run its course. Now, attention needs to shift from international rules for governments to international rules dealing with the various aspects of the international operations of firms – what are called “micro-issues” in this chapter; these include, by way of example, cross-border mergers and acquisitions and international bankruptcies. Such international rules for the principal actors in international production and markets would complement (or replace) the unilateral rules that exist at the national level. International rules would set the direct parameters for certain aspects of the international activities of firms and hence provide the global governance for operating in the global production and trading spaces. This chapter exemplifies for a number of areas the state of rule-making for some micro-issues, analyzes the nature of this rule-making, and suggests a way forward. Developing international micro-regulatory frameworks of rules of the road for the various aspects of the international operations of firms in the globalizing world economy should be the new frontier of international commercial diplomacy.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the legislative process, in order to determine the likely effectiveness of financial reform efforts in the USA.

Case study of the legislative process, particularly the less visible parts such as rule making, that shaped the passage and implementation of the Dodd‐Frank Act and the failed Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) reform.

It is found that the process of financial reform legislation is structured in such a way as to thwart major reform, at least in the short run.

The passage of a particular piece of legislation may be the least important element in the process of reform. Rule making and the decisions as to how a law will be implemented, can advance or significantly defeat the quest for change.

Much of what occurs in the legislative process is invisible, or appears arcane, to the ordinary citizen but can have major impact on their lives.

The paper provides a road map to understanding the least visible parts of financial reform efforts and suggests ways of achieving reform outcomes.

The purpose of this study is to integrate institutional theory with current research in corporate political strategy and political science to examine the relationship between organizations and regulatory agencies. It seeks to explore the limits of the power of the state to regulate organizations by comparing the historical timing of industry regulation of two different fields. It aims to examine two US regulatory agencies – the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The paper presents a longitudinal analysis of two US regulatory agencies that illustrates differences in agency responses to firm resistance. Specifically, event history analysis and maximum likelihood estimation are used to examine the impact that firms in the commercial airline and automobile industry have in the rule‐making process of the FAA and NHTSA.

Distinct differences were found between the rule‐making context of the airline and automobile industries.

The study focuses on the rule‐making context of two regulatory agencies. Examining additional agencies in future studies would help confirm the results of this study. Moreover, because the study is limited to regulatory agencies in the USA, the results may not be directly generalizable to other nations.

This study emphasizes the importance of historical context and its impact on current industry conditions, particularly in regulation.

Small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) have increasingly become integrated into global value chains, where they face social and environmental requirements from multinational buyers. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of SMEs with respect to sustainable supply chain management in global value chains.

Drawing from a survey of sustainable supply chain management practices among 300 Danish SMEs, the paper discusses the concept of governance in global value chains. The paper addresses two questions: first, to what extent are SMEs affected by social and environmental requirements from buyers? Second, to what extent do SMEs apply such requirements to their own suppliers?

The paper concludes that SMEs face requirements from their buyers much more frequently than they apply such requirements to their own suppliers. Also many buyer requirements in the value chain seem to be latent in that they are neither contractual nor subject to verification. The paper argues that this points to a gap between rule making and rule keeping in sustainable supply chain management.

Research should focus on the impact of sustainability standards on the competitiveness of small firms in other developed countries, as well as in emerging markets such as China and India.

Multinational buyers and SME‐support providers should focus on improving the capacity of SMEs to reconcile sustainability standards with competitiveness.

The paper provides new data on the role of SMEs in sustainable supply chain management.

Making law in America is not a simple task. It can be legislated by Congress, enforced by the executive, interpreted by the courts, and augmented by a massive body of rules created by administrative agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010) (Dodd-Frank was passed) with an eye to preventing future financial crises. Four years later, many details of Dodd-Frank have yet to be finalized as the SEC is still in the process of developing the regulations that the legislation required them to create. Even once the regulations are finalized by the SEC, the regulations will be challenged by various parties in the courts. The regulations will be either upheld or rejected. Those that are upheld will then face numerous challenges when applied in specific cases, while those rejected will have to be redone all over again. The process of developing these regulations is cumbersome and attracts many of the special interests that were present in the legislative phase of Dodd-Frank and who will also be present in the litigation phases of testing Dodd-Frank in the courts. This paper focuses on the requirement that investment advisors and broker-dealers be deemed as owing fiduciary duties to their clients as a case study for the entangled political economy theory. The paper shows how the development of a simple rule such as whether these fiduciary duties should be owed or not requires years of back and forth between the legislative, executive, administrative, and judicial branches.

This paper makes a contribution to defining the scope of study in workplace industrial relations. Applications of a modified rules approach to industrial relations to the fieldwork setting of a large industrial construction site leads to interpretations and clarifications which give the subject a distinct focus while avoiding excessive overlap with other social science fields of study.

Multinational resource companies (MRCs) are under pressure to become responsible corporate citizens. In particular, stakeholders are demanding more information about the deals these companies negotiate with the host governments of resource-rich nations, and there is general agreement about the need for industry commitment to transparency and the benefits that a mandatory disclosure regime would bring. This paper examines the production of one attempt to regulate disclosures related to payments between MRCs and the governments of nations with resource wealth: Section 1504 of the Dodd–Frank Act.

Drawing on Boltanski and Thévenot's (2006) Sociology of Worth, the authors examine the comment letters of participants in this process with a view to revealing how stakeholder groups produce justifications to promote their positions vis-à-vis transparency to regulators.

The authors show how justifications were mobilised by various constituents in an effort to shape the definition of transparency and the regulatory architecture that governs disclosure practices. In this case, the collective recognition of desirability of transparency enabled the SEC to suture together the views of constituents to create a shared understanding of the role of the common good as it relates to transparency.

This paper explores an alternative approach to the consideration of comment letters advanced during the process of disclosure-related rule-making. The authors show how a sophisticated regulator may be able to draw together elements stemming from different constituents in a way that appeals to a shared sense of the “common good” in order to produce Final Rules.

Using the policy recommendations identified in the study as an analytical departure point, the study proposes a “public-private governance and sustainability model” that builds upon the policy options and develops implementation strategies for the key stakeholder institutions implementing the proposed solutions in the US food waste management ecosystem.

Within an exploratory research perspective, an affinity diagram is employed to help identify important policy recommendations identified with key policy reports. Moreover, the study employs a “meta regulation” approach that employs four essential characteristics of any regulatory instrument or approach: target, regulator, command and consequences.

The study has identified the recommended solutions identified as most effective, and developed recommended implementation strategies that could accomplish the goal of potentially reducing food waste in the US at the consumer level. The study recommends passage of federal legislation that specifies what form of administrative rule-making and enforcement process should be instituted, as well as who are the important stakeholders to be considered and authority provided in this rule-making and enforcement process.

This study offers a comprehensive “proposed public-private governance and sustainability model” addressing food waste management safety and quality date labeling implementation challenges by the enforcing federal, state and local governments, as well as collaborating with industry associations and consumer interest groups.