Atle Midttun

Partnered governance: aligning corporate responsibility and public policy in the global economy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to note the remarkable expansion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. Taking this as point of departure, it aims to discuss the potential for aligning CSR‐oriented industrial self‐regulation with public governance to fill some of the governance gap in the global economy.Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a conceptual discussion, empirically underpinned by three case studies.Findings – The paper finds that it is plausible, and empirically supported by the case studies, to conceive of a considerable role for CSR based self‐regulation in the global economy. A central precondition is the ability of civil society organizations to establish “moral rights” as credible voices for “just causes” in a media‐driven communicative society, and thereby put pressure on brand sensitive industry. The paper finds that corporate self‐regulation may fill a larger part of the governance gap if public policy is oriented to engage...

Greening of electricity in Europe: challenges and developments

Abstract Against the background of underlying ecological challenges and rapid de-regulation of energy markets, the article explores commercial and political dimensions of greening of electricity in Europe. The article has a dual economic and political focus: From a commercial point of view it argues that the European green electricity approaches can be sorted into two types based on a classical distinction between standardised commodification and specialised segmentation. From a political point of view, it argues that the European green electricity approaches can be sorted into two categories, EU- and nationally-orientated renewable energy policies. Drawing on examples from the other case studies presented in this volume, supplemented with other material, the article analyses greening of electricity industry under various market-politics combinations and discusses strengths and weaknesses of each approach as it is applied in the European context. In a final section the article relates the discussion of political and commercial organisation of greening of electricity industry to underlying ecological challenges and the need for a locational differentiation of greening policies.

Theoretical ambiguity and the weight of historical heritage: a comparative study of the British and Norwegian electricity liberalisation

Britain and Norway have been European pioneers in liberalising their electricity systems, but they have done so in very different ways. Both attempted to create a system in which the potentially competitive activities, generation and supply to final consumers, were opened up to market forces. However, Britain has liberalised by privatisation leaving generation largely concentrated in a few companies. Norway has maintained a dominant public ownership, but has sought to create a competitive environment through a decentralised production structure. The British ‘capitalist’ and the Norwegian ‘structuralist’ approaches both exhibit clear market oriented features, but with the dynamics placed respectively on the ownership side and on decentralised competition. Yet the two models are also reflections of two historical heritages. The differences in political style help to explain the more dramatic and controversial character of the British reform as compared to the rather pragmatic Norwegian process. The difference between the two reform models also has a bearing on their strengths and weaknesses. The Norwegian model, with its small scale municipal orientation is almost ideal for a competitive free trade market in a closed economy, but problematic in a larger international competitive context. For the British model the concentration and advanced capitalist ownership strategies create regulatory dilemmas, such as the current wave of takeovers, that are not easily handled.

Integrating corporate social responsibility and other strategic foci in a distributed production system: a transaction cost perspective on the North Sea offshore petroleum industry

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to explore the challenges of integrating corporate social responsibility (CSR) with other strategic foci into the supply/contractor chain, both conceptually and empirically, with a focus on one sectorial case: the Norwegian upstream petroleum industry. It compares contradictory theories of strategic focus and explores their implications for the organisation of the supply chain and discusses challenges and solutions for operative CSR‐oriented supply chain managementDesign/methodology/approach – The empirical analysis, inspired by the cognitive mapping approach, seeks to elicit the strategic profiles of the oil majors and suppliers/contractors in the petroleum industry. This is based on textual analysis of core statements of overall business strategy such as the CEOs and the Chairmans statement letter to the shareholders. The paper also draws on research and workshops with petroleum companies and their suppliers in the North Sea, as well as contracting experts and res...

Globalization and governance for sustainability

Purpose – This paper seeks to take stock of core arguments in some of the most central governance traditions and to discuss their capacity to deliver solutions. It starts with an appraisal of the strengths and weaknesses of the ideas of market‐, state‐ and civil‐society‐led governance, but also factors in the effect of media and communication as governance arenas in their own right. Then it aims to review core arguments put forward in broader approaches to governance where multiple governance mechanisms are combined.Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper that reviews central approaches in the governance literature and their ability to further sustainable development. The review is taken as a basis for tentative formulations of new supplementary governance approaches.Findings – Out of the critical analysis the paper distils is an approach to governance that combines three basic elements: First, a re‐interpretation of Montesquieus principle of checks and balances – applied not only to sta...

Negotiating energy futures The politics of energy forecasting

Abstract Over the last decade it has become increasingly clear that energy forecasts have been used for partisan purposes. Through energy models and forecasts, industrial, political and administrative interests compete for cognitive and methodological hegemony. We have termed this integration of modelling and politics the ‘scientific negotiation of energy futures’. This article presents core elements of a sociopolitical and institutional perspective with which to analyse the generation of assumptions that underlie energy models and forecasts. We focus on the factors that shape the choice of data, functional forms and modelling methodologies. We point to the filters of professional orientation and organizational structures that give every forecast an inherent cognitive bias. We stress the legitimation function of forecasts in political decision making. These factors are illustrated with a comparative analysis of energy modelling and forecasting over the last 20 years in the UK, Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, the USA, and FR Germany, and a discussion of the IIASA world energy model.

The weakness of strong governance and the strength of soft regulation: Environmental governance in post‐modern form

Abstract Much of the debate on economic regulation has revolved around the relative role of markets and hierarchies and the juxtaposition of those two modes of governance vis‐a‐vis each other. However, both the two seemingly polar positions share a basic common assumption, namely the possibility of a recursion to a sovereign public authority capable of making collective decisions that are binding for actors within its territorial domain. The paper argues that several factors in modern society serve to weaken the sovereign regulatory public authority and that the strong governance assumption, therefore, is highly questionable. Given, for instance, that the relevant market now often extends beyond the boundary of any single regulator and that national differences in resource endowments, and industrial structure and institutional traditions vary extensively, nation slates frequently find it difficult to agree on common regulatory principles. Against this background, the paper supplements the traditional mark...

The political economy of energy use and pollution : the environmental effects of East-European transition to market economy

The transition of Eastern Europe to Western-type liberal capitalism has by many observers been interpreted as an important step towards a more ecologically sustainable Europe. The main argument has been that the energy efficiency of the West-European economy will be imported to Eastern Europe and lead to lower energy consumption and lower pollution. This line of argumentation seems sound as far as the industrial sector is concerned. However, it does not take into consideration the energy and pollution bill of the lavish lifestyle of modern consumer-oriented societies. A shift away from the moderate private consumption of East-European Communism, towards the Western consumerist lifestyle may diminish or even abolish the positive ecological effects of the East-European transition to a competitive market economy. In order to shed empirical light on this problematique, this article explores energy consumption and pollution patterns of Eastern and Western Europe both as far as industrial and domestic end-user consumption is concerned. The article argues that these patterns are related to basic characteristics of the communist and capitalist systems and that pollution and energy-use, in other words, are fundamentally conditioned by the over all political economy.

Loyalty or competition? A comparative analysis of Norwegian and Swedish electricity distributors' adaptation to market reform

Recent electricity reforms in Norway and Sweden, aimed at introducing competition in production and trade, have challenged traditional producer-distributor networks. This paper examines the responses of municipal distributors in three types of networks at the outset of the respective reforms, namely vertically integrated networks, networks integrated by ownership ties, and contractually integrated networks. While some distributors in the two countries have chosen competitive, exit-oriented strategies, others have remained loyal to their pre-existing suppliers. Analysis of these emergent patterns reveals that the new market regimes have not automatically implied a shift to a competitive regime but rather to a remolding of traditional networks to suit the new market order. Besides short-term commercial considerations, municipal distributor strategies seem to reflect societal and long-term strategic levels of exchange.

Effectiveness and negotiability of environmental regulation

This paper investigates the limitations and possibilities of various regulatory strategies with respect to meeting the joint challenge of ecological and commercial modernization, in a context of loosely integrated polities. The major focus is on the trade-off between (1) regulatory effectiveness, (2) competitiveness and distributive effects across and between national energy industries, and (3) the political legitimation challenges that this poses at the national and international policy level. The paper concludes that focusing on negotiability and choosing sequential ‘soft’ regulation does not necessarily imply weak environmental standards in the long run. Rather, the softly initiated evolutionary strategy represents a realistic appreciation of the fragility of global and federal institutions in issues of major industrial concern, and develops a path towards sustainable governance that takes this into consideration. Atle Midttun and Anne Louise Koefoed 80 International Journal of Regulation and Governance 1(1): 79–11