Fiona Haines

Corporate regulation : beyond "punish or persuade"

One: Introduction. Two: Regulation and Context. Three: Exploring Death at Work. Four: Operationalizing Virtue: The Responses to Death. Five: Preliminary Responses, Coping or Denial. Six: Business Cultures: Consensus and Conflict. Seven: What Constrains Virtue? The Role of Size and Position in the Contracting Hierarchy. Eight: How is Virtue Produced? The Role of Law and Law Enforcement. Nine: The Broad Context of Response: Competing Demand and Prospects for the Future. Ten: Conclusion. Index

Regulatory Reform in Light of Regulatory Character: Assessing Industrial Safety Change in the Aftermath of Kader Toy Factory Fire in Bangkok, Thailand

Effective safety regulation remains an elusive goal for many industrializing nations, with the economic philosophy underpinning economic globalization ambivalent towards regulation, while successive industrial disasters demonstrate a need for improvement. This article explores this nexus between globalization and regulatory reform through research into the aftermath of the Kader Toy Factory Fire in Bangkok, Thailand. It argues that reform following such events cannot be assessed by reference to the nature of the regulatory techniques adopted without consideration of the regulatory context. Rather, research on regulatory change needs to develop an appreciation of the interaction between the regulatory framework and the social context. The article develops a theoretical concept of ‘regulatory character’ as the means to conceptualize and explore this interaction. Regulatory character is informed by an understanding of the importance of cultural ordering to regulatory change and regulatory compliance as outlined by Hood (1998) and Selznick’s (1992) argument that cultural order is moulded by the economic and political dependencies. Thai regulatory character is then described and used to assess safety reform in Thailand following the Kader Toy Factory Fire. Finally, the interaction between Thai regulatory character and globalization is explored through the data on the aftermath of the fire.

The Engineer's Dilemma: A Sociological Perspective on Juridificaton and Regulation

Juridification refers to the tendency fororganisations and individuals subject toregulation to be overwhelmed by detailedrules, standards and instructions. Manyresearchers have argued that suchover-prescriptiveness can in fact underminethe likelihood that a business orindividual will comply. Though proceedingfrom different theoretical perspectives,writers such as Braithwaite, Teubner andPatterson all argue that juridification canbe minimised by improving regulatorystrategies and techniques. Instead of beingrule bound and relying on detailedprescriptions, authorities should becomemore flexible and outcome-oriented. Thispaper uses the case-study of a ChiefEngineer in an Australian public hospitalto contest the view that juridification canbe reduced simply by improving regulatorytechniques. Drawing on Habermas, it arguesthat juridification is the product ofdeep-seated crisis tendencies in latemodern capitalist democracies. Fiscal andlegitimacy problems are causing governmentsand regulatory authorities to pressure theengineer to try to satisfy contradictorydemands. Simultaneously he must be acost-conscious entrepreneurial risk-managerwhile not losing sight of his role as arisk-averse maintainer of professionalstandards. The plethora of rules andregulatory standards which surround theengineer reflect government desire todistance itself in the event that economicpressures cause him to incur risks that thepublic and media deem unacceptable.Ultimately, therefore, the engineersjuridification problems have a politicaldimension. To the extent that they helpobscure this, theories that suggestjuridification can be solved by improvingregulatory techniques have an ideologicalfunction.

Corporate fraud as misplaced confidence? Exploring ambiguity in the accuracy of accounts and the materiality of money

The corporate fraud narrative suggests that misleading and inaccurate accounts engender misplaced confidence that robs creditors and investors alike. Yet, this view underplays nested ambiguities in business accounts first in the (im)possibility of accuracy in a set of accounts and second in the constituent figures themselves as embodying uncertain monetary value. This article analyses these phenomena and argues that confidence, nurtured by governments through their regulatory practices, is essential to maintaining perceived integrity to both in spite of continuing ambiguity. This management of confidence is engendered through the interdependent yet contested relationships between government, business and professional elites. Corporate fraud is embedded within these relationships and hence difficult to dislodge without threatening the productiveness that business promises and government craves. Criminalization of corporate fraud deflects attention to one of these actors, the business and its directors, without clear recognition of the role played by government itself.

Networked Regulation as a Solution to Human Rights Abuse in Global Supply Chains? The Case of Trade Union Rights Violations by Indonesian Sports Shoe Manufacturers

This article analyses the capacity of global networks of civil society actors to supplement effectively weak state regulation in reducing human rights abuse by multi-national companies (MNCs). The effectiveness of non-government organizations as part of a network of control finds support both in the radical criminological literature as well as those explicitly advocating for a networked regulatory approach. This case study of the Indonesian sport shoe industry demonstrates that networked regulation has had a positive short- to medium-term impact on respect for trade union rights among some manufacturers producing for western MNCs. However, inconsistent approaches by the MNCs and ongoing resistance by manufacturers has made this influence difficult to sustain. Critically, the Indonesian state apparatus emerges as a powerful and primarily—but far from completely—complicit set of actors: applying criminal sanctions for trade union rights violations but failing to enforce them, and influencing networked regulation in complex, contingent ways. This case study suggests both that advocates and practitioners of networked regulation need to find more effective ways to respond to the corporate drive to maximize profit and that networked regulation’s long-term usefulness will likely depend on the extent to which it draws from and operates to strengthen progressive regulatory elements within Asian states.

Making Cartel Conduct Criminal: A Case-Study of Ambiguity in Controlling Business Behaviour

Abstract This article explores the regulation of cartel conduct in Australia focusing, in particular, on the recent decision to criminalise so-called ‘hard-core’ cartels. It illuminates three interdependent ambiguities in regulating such conduct: economic, moral and legal. The case study is drawn on to highlight the challenges for the criminal law in attempting to resolve such ambiguities or tensions as they arise in the regulation of business behaviour generally.We argue that such challenges exist because the ambiguities reflect broader shifts taking place on an ongoing basis in economic policy, political ideology and social norms in Australian society.

The Problem that is Global Warming: Introduction

Global warming poses significant challenges to society at every level, evading easy definitions that would make the usual instrumental approaches to policymaking and regulation a relatively straightforward task. The embeddedness of the carbon economy in contemporary methods of industrialization and development means that climate protection is at once a problem of environment, the global economy, and human rights. It requires us to understand the strengths and limitations of a regulatory approach, to tease apart the intricacies of international law and governance to find ways to turn economic, legal, and cultural norms toward creating climate justice. Sector specific approaches to dealing with human rights and refugees, as well as international relations based on interstate relations, also have limitations. These include insufficient capacity to appreciate the differentiated responsibility of various actors in the creation of this ecological crisis as well as creating obstacles in finding appropriate ways to motivate those with the most ability to reduce our impact on the climate. Mutual reinforcement and virtuous arbitrage across fragmented regulatory regimes might create new synergies with potentially positive transformative effects for climate protection. To achieve this, the development and maintenance of legitimacy is central. The articles in this edition tackle these issues and, taken as a whole, provide a springboard for future scholarship.

The Show Must Go On: The Response to Fatalities in Multiple Employer Workplaces

This research analyses how complexities in the workplace affect organizational responses to trauma. The data ascertained organizational responses to work deaths in workplaces where more than one organization was involved, namely the multiple employer workplace. In response to prior researchs oversimplification of the complexities of workplaces, the research extends Colemans (1987) notion of a power hierarchy within organizations to include a hierarchy among organizations which influences work site safety. Findings suggest that both the size of the organization and its position in the workplace hierarchy have a significant effect on how it responds to to both issues of safety and legal liability.

The Australian Conversion: How the Case for Cartel Criminalisation Was Made

The phenomenon of cartel criminalisation provides a window on dynamics in society at large. In particular, it exemplifies the political risk that governments face in wrestling with conflicting economic and social imperatives. This article uses the experience in Australia to demonstrate how the political risk inherent in cartel criminalisation may be overcome. Alive to public ambivalence over neoliberal market-based reforms, the Australian competition authority and government downplayed the economic rationale for cartel criminalisation and capitalised instead on the publics need for certainty and security in the social order. This was done by playing up the role of the government as protector of the economy, exploiting public scepticism towards globalisation and distrust of big business and invoking populist egalitarian sentiment. The strategy has been effective in the short term. However, challenges still loom in the enforcement of the cartel regime that may yet expose the fallacies in the case that was made for criminalisation.

Vanquishing the Enemy or Civilizing the Neighbour? Controlling the Risks from Hazardous Industries

Inclusion of the local community in a continuous dialogue aimed at reducing the risks posed by hazardous industries such as chemical plants and oil refineries is an increasingly common feature of some regulatory regimes. This article explores the implications of this regulatory shift for the reduction of risk through research undertaken in a major Australian city. The study found that local communities, when given a formal voice in regulatory regimes, did push industry to consider an extended range of risks. These risks included the risk of explosion or major chemical spill threatening health and the environment (termed here actuarial risks) but also concerns about the orderliness within the local neighbourhood and proper relationships between industry and community (risks of a more socio-cultural nature). Further, the escalation of political risk was critical in determining which actuarial and socio-cultural concerns of the community were listened to. Regulatory innovations involving increased accountability of hazardous industry to the local community may increase pressure on targeted industry to reduce risk, but the ensuing risk management is likely to involve political and socio-cultural as well as actuarial risks.