Transnational Politics

MNCs: market-based transnationalism

Today

MNCs: The ‘ugly’? The role of MNCs in development and policy making

What can the study of NGOs and TANs (Keck/Sikkink) contribute to our understanding of MNCs?

Readings: From the bottom-up: Dahan, Doh, Guay: The Role of

Multinational Corporations in transnational institution building’ From the top-down: David Collier, author of ‘The Bottom Billion’;

How does economic development occur?; Gapminder.org

Monday, 2/18/2008

Why talk about MNCs?

MNCs and power MNCs and development MNCs and human rights

Def.: MNCs are enterprises with commercial operations in more than one country. 1969: about 7,000 MNCs; 2005: 63,312 MNCs with 821,818 foreign affiliates.

ILO information on MNCs

Monday, 2/18/2008

Market authority

In 1996, 405 out of 500 largest MNCs were headquartered in the Northern hemisphere: US (162), Japan (126), France (42), Germany (41), and Great Britain (34).

Of the 100 largest economies: 51 are MNCs and 49 are states.

MNCs: agents of social change?

Key argument: MNCs create policy networks in order to shape their regulatory and social environments. MNCs do not just adjust and adapt to their environment, but actively shape it.

Limits of the existing literature (p. 1547) Looks at the national level only (not beyond the nation state). Looks at MNC-state relations only (not at other interactions). Looks at isolated MNCs only (not networked action). Looks at material (hard) power only (not the realm of ideas and

norms).

Monday, 2/18/2008

Four sections

First section: IB and IM literature (p. 1573) Traditional view of MNCs

Second section: A policy-network perspective (p. 1578) Policy communities; epistemic communities; issue networks

Third section: Applying the model (p. 1585) Policy communities: Shaping policies Epistemic communities: Producing knowledge Issue networks: Building coalitions

Fourth section: Contributions, limitations, future research (p. 1592)

Monday, 2/18/2008

1. Limits of the IB literature

MNCs face two types of pressures: Globalization exposes MNCs to a wide range of

homogenizing pressures. Accelerated diffusion of ideas and norms. >> isomorphism (p. 1575)

MNCs have to adapt to domestic laws and adopt local practices.

However: The literature has ignored MNCs’ capabilities to shape their domestic and transnational environment.

Monday, 2/18/2008

MNC and their institutional environment

Policy convergence across nations may be desirable in order to standardize operations. .. Isomorphic pressures. (p. 1577)

Coercive/imposition: law and other rules externally imposed

Mimetic/harmonization: uncertainty leading to imitation

Normative/diffusion: socialization/learning/internalization

Monday, 2/18/2008

2. Developing a policy network perspective

Definition, p. 1578:

A policy network is “a self-organizing group that coordinates a growing number of public (decision-makers) and private (interest groups) actors for the purpose of formulating and implementing public policies.”

Monday, 2/18/2008

Categories of policy networks

Table 1, p. 1580

Policy community: restricted, stable membership Issue network: loose coalitions. Issue-oriented Epistemic community: focus on knowledge

Monday, 2/18/2008

When do policy networks matter?

Determinants of success, p. 1581: Network structure (density and type, p. 1581) Members’ characteristics (type and position in the

network) Strategies (resource exchange and discourse/framing,

p. 1582/3) Institutional characteristics of the policy area

(forum shopping)Compare to Keck and Sikkink, p. 25-9): Issue and actor characteristics

(sender and target)

Monday, 2/18/2008

3. Application: MNCs in policy networks

MNCs in policy communities (p. 1585)Focus on access and resource exchange

MNCs in epistemic communitiesClimate change; focus on knowledge/framing

MNCs in issue networksFocus on creating a common strategy/understanding

of the problem

Monday, 2/18/2008

4. Contributions, limits and future research

Contributions (p. 1592/3) Offer a more complete picture of MNC interactions with their

institutional environment. Focus on the agency of MNCs. Development of policy network perspective: explain the role of

MNCs in institution-building. Limitations

The categories of networks are underspecified. The policy network approach is descriptive/heuristic, not

necessarily explanatory.

Monday, 2/18/2008

Future research

Why do some issues become focal points of MNC mobilization and others do not?

Where do policy networks come from? How can we derive better predictions about the

success of particular networks? Why do MNCs prefer different modes of policy

convergences?

Monday, 2/18/2008