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The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare three different principles – the culpability, capacity and concern principles – for allocating responsibility for governance in a multi‐level context of addressing sustainable development.

The principles are first analysed from a theoretical and normative standpoint, linking to earlier literature on for example, the contribution principle, subsidiarity and global citizenship. Then the three principles are analysed in an empirical setting. The selected case is the issue complex around the health and environmental concerns from pesticide use in developing countries. Document analysis and semi‐structured interviews were carried out with relevant stakeholders from local, national and global governance levels on themes which enabled analysis of the workability and justness of the principles and whether they were already applied to some degree.

Analysis of the case shows the mutual complementarity of the three principles for allocating responsibility for governance, especially when culpability and capacity are dispersed across different agents and levels. However, the concern and capacity principles emerged as more important and promising. The results indicated the need for moving the value basis of agents towards more selfless global concern in order to create an effective multi‐level governance system.

The results may help policymakers at different levels to analyse more systematically who should assume responsibility for sustainable development governance and why.

Extends the analysis of principles for allocating responsibility for global issues.

The paper aims to develop a framework to facilitate the evaluation of the complexities of working in multi-level governance and partnership and to assess the extent to which collaboration adds value in terms of both process and outcomes.

The paper applies the fuzzy analysis hierarchy process (FAHP) to the design of an evaluation framework for partnerships and uses data from a questionnaire survey in Wuhan, China, to validate the framework.

The paper finds that the effectiveness of multi-level governance and partnerships is primarily determined by such factors as clarity of framework for partnership, consensus on mission statement of strategic partnership, mechanisms for joint initiation and implementation of projects and removal of barriers to flow of resources.

The paper shows that policymakers need to adopt an evaluation approach to improve the effectiveness of multi-level governance and partnerships.

The paper provides a framework for building multi-level governance and partnerships in the Chinese context.

“Re‐shaping” policy provides the opportunity for an inclusive approach to decision‐making in dialogue with existing member‐states and anticipated new members. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which the governance process that underpinned the modernisation of EC competition policy (Council Regulation (EC) No. 1/2003, effective 1 May 2004) can be considered inclusive.

A multi‐level genre is used to describe EC governance with respect to the implementation of revised competition policy. The process is evaluated through the levels of involvement of the key stakeholders, i.e. firms (national, European and non‐European), consumers, national competition authorities (NCAs), the European Commission, and member states. The main explanatory vehicles relied on are institutionalism governance, policy network analysis and inter‐governmentalist models of governance.

Multi‐level governance was apparent as member states established national working parties and committees that paralleled similar consultation in Brussels. Good governance was evident through the democratic process that involved interest groups in policy network analysis. Ultimate authority, however, remains vested in the Commission, vouchsafed through legislation and institutionalism.

This paper contributes to the small but growing literature that illustrates the complex interaction between governance and implementation of public policy.

Based on a case study of Norway, the purpose of this paper is twofold: to present recent trends in the development of the multi‐level governance of the care services for the elderly and people with mental illness towards what we call the cooperative turn; and to discuss the implications of this trend for universalism in service provision.

The paper is a study of documents and the recent research literature.

A shift towards the cooperative turn can be identified as a change from command‐and‐control instruments to soft regulation mechanisms. Regulations and economic means are increasingly complemented by informational means. Soft versions of the steering instruments are used to target the results and processes of local policies. Hard instruments do not disappear, and a mixture of all the abovementioned instruments governs the two policy fields. This has implications for universalism defined as territorial uniformity, accessibility and coverage as user groups are competing for scarce resources, professionals are gaining autonomy in decision making and users are involved in service provision.

The originality of this paper is the discussion of the development of multi‐level governance towards a cooperative turn and the implications of this for universalism in service provision.

Modern slavery is a problem that international business (IB) research can no longer ignore. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are often contributors to the persistence of modern slavery, by virtue of the regulatory challenge they pose to states and their insufficient oversight of supply chains. The purpose of this paper is to show that governance inadequacies with respect to modern slavery will be lessened if IB scholars give more attention to MNEs’ governing role within and beyond global value chains.

A set of arguments is presented in support of intensified effort in IB research with respect to studying the role of MNEs in transnational labour governance. The paper draws inspiration from IB theory and the conceptualisation of the MNE in neighbouring disciplines that regard it as a bearer of duties toward labour, consistent with its role in multilevel governance. Insights from the literature on global and multi-level governance are utilised.

The paper construes modern slavery as a multi-level governance challenge and argues that MNE capabilities and responsibilities with respect to labour governance and the deterrence of slavery exceed those identified on the margins of IB literature. MNEs are underappreciated as governors within the multilevel transnational labour governance system. The IB discipline is in a strong position to develop our understanding of the MNE’s different roles in governance and thereby contribute to the reduced incidence of modern slavery.

This paper represents an attempt to mobilise the IB academy to help eliminate slavery from workplaces that rely on MNE patronage or where labour rights abuses are made possible by MNE diversion of governance resources. It places particular emphasis on the use and abuse of MNEs’ governance capabilities in the sphere of international relations and calls attention to over-simplification of the MNE, IB’s primary unit of analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate critically the constructivist-grounded theory in elite interviews, the methodology used for this research.

The research is about the challenges of the EU rail industry integration in the context of EU integration as seen and told by the involved actors. In particular, the integration process requires leadership in the multi-level governance context of the EU and in the transition from state monopolies to businesses providing services on the integrated market. This provides a potential source of theoretically and practically relevant research questions; and second rigorous grounded research methodologies will bring insight that transcends the currently accepted formal and public statements about the phenomena. The work is situated within social constructivist ontology, enacted through a rigorous grounded theory approach to understanding the current challenges of the industry and seeking more effective developments for the future.

Findings place the concepts of leadership and debt into a relationship that could offer profound understanding of certain social relations and contribute to the growth of theory and practice. These findings are also elaborated in this paper as reflections on the methodological process.

Contribution to theory and practice supports the relevance and rigor of “constructivist-grounded theory in elite interviews” as a methodological approach.

In particular, it supports qualitative research in complex political environments, such as the multi-level governance structures of the EU.

A clearer understanding of leadership within such dynamic contexts can make a substantial contribution to better policy-making in the EU and better outcomes for its citizens.

Further analysis and research of the concepts of leadership and debt and their relationship could offer profound understanding of certain social relations and contribute to the growth of theory and practice.

Given the spread of multi-level governance tools, interaction between local and regional governments has become an important mechanism for service delivery and the implementation of public policies. The purpose of this paper is to empirically test a model of cooperative relations affecting local governments and thus having impact on local autonomy and dependence.

This paper takes previous typologies as a starting point to theoretically build and empirically test a model of cooperative relations based on two selected indicators: the degree of autonomy-dependence and the degree of rigidity-flexibility of the cooperative system. In a second step, the authors stimulate the model numerically to match real data on it coming from South European local governments to assess the functioning of the theory in a concrete space and time.

The combination of the aforementioned concepts, creates a four-option theoretical model that describes four possible situations where cooperative intergovernmental relations can be empirically placed.

This paper points out the need to incorporate empirical studies to trace the characteristics and evolution of the cooperative relations between local governments and upper tiers. This is particularly relevant if the authors are referring to mechanisms that can vary through time. In the current big and open data era, this empirical process will become easier and more affordable. In this context, local government studies benefit from particular features that improve the operation of this kind of analysis: large “N” configuration (a large number of units to be included) and a reasonable equivalence in concepts and bodies that allows comparability.

Project governance has been linked to project success because top management support is necessary for projects to succeed. However, top managers are time poor and it is not clear which project governance mechanisms are effective for project success. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue and identify project governance mechanisms that correlate with success.

This is a quantitative study. A theoretical model of project governance was developed and tested with secondary industry data gathered from 51 global organisations and 66,817 responses.

The results found five project governance mechanisms (Vision, Change, Sponsor, KPI and Monitor) significantly correlate with project success and are effective at different stages in the project lifecycle.

Earlier research has found a relationship between project governance and project success but it has not been specific enough to guide top managers in practice. This is the first research to take this next step and identify project governance mechanisms that correlate with project success. One finding of this research that has particular value is the identification of when in the project lifecycle a particular governance mechanism is most effective.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of exogenous drivers that seeks to foster endogenous resilience and climate adaptation policy and practice in developing countries. It particularly examines the role of Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network as an exogenous driver that sought to sustain urban climate adaptation and resilience agenda in a secondary city in Indonesia.

The research combines fieldworks and desktop research. Primary data collection includes participant observation, unstructured interviews with city stakeholders and project managers, semi-structured interviews with local communities and literature reviews. This research also used an ethnographic field research approach.

Exogenous drivers have temporarily fostered climate change adaptation at city level, but the question remains is how can international actors effectively create a meaningful transformation toward urban resilience in developing countries like Indonesia. Exogenous drivers can play significant roles as a catalyst for urban adaptation planning, including undertaking vulnerability assessment and city resilience strategy and implementing adaptation actions, and facilitates risk management. Further processes for mainstreaming climate adaptation and disaster reduction depend on how receptive and responsive local actors to co-facilitate and co-lead urban resilience buildings and development.

There is still lack of documented knowledge on local institutional change and policy making processes. This research shows challenges and opportunities in institutionalising urban climate adaptation and risk management agenda. It further shows that genesis of endogenous adaptation cannot be separated from the exogenous climate adaptation processes as well as internal dynamic of urban governance in developing world.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the papers included in this special issue and discuss the theme – shifts in Nordic welfare governance.

The paper discusses the major themes and sets out the structure of the special issue.

The picture emerging is mixed and there is evidence for strong decentralisation where policy instruments allow for considerable local room to manoeuvre. Organisational arrangements for governance are also highly localised, but (over time) oscillate between decentralisation and centralisation. As for the consequences for universalism, the contributions point to three contrasting scenarios. The first, relatively optimistic assessment suggests that while decentralisation challenges territorial equality, in some Nordic countries there seems to be inbuilt self‐correcting mechanisms pulling in the opposite direction. The second scenario is more critical and here it is argued that shifts in welfare governance, such as decentralisation and the introduction of elements of self and market governance, challenge universalism; universalism has become highly contingent on local circumstances and the practice of welfare delivery mixes different types of justice. The final scenario is rather pessimistic about the prospects of universalism and suggests that the shifts in welfare governance challenge universalism on all counts and lead to a wide range of new inequalities among citizens. This echoes the analysis of non‐Nordic countries in Europe where the scope for universalism remains limited.

The contribution of this special issue is twofold. First, using elderly care as a case study, the special issue analyses the complexity of welfare governance by looking at changes in both the vertical and the horizontal dimensions of governing. Second, focusing on Nordic countries, it assesses the substantive implications of shifts in welfare governance, notably in terms of universalism.