Part 27: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 27:  Summing Up UNDER CONSTRUCTION

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

The examination of the US NCP has suggested a pattern of behavior that has been consistent across Republican and Democratic Administrations despite the well publicized re-imagining of the US NCP in 2011. (Parts 10-16). But is the conduct of the U.S. NCP and the policy premises this conduct applies unusual in this respect, or does the U.S. NCP reflect a common OECD NCP culture? This question was considered by examining the reports of the annual meetings of the NCs between 2001 and 2012 (Posts 17-22).  That examination suggested  that the United States position reflected a conventional and conservative position, but one shared by a number of other state NCPs.  The United States remains among the leaders of the NCP clique that views the MNE Guidelines project as inter-governmental in essence, that views with suspicion the development of MNE Guidelines principles through any judicialized framework or that might suggest a remedial or fact finding function for the NCP.  Lastly, the United States vigorously represents a view, not shared by other leading NCP states, that bifurcates enterprise governance rules between a domestic legal regime dominated by the laws of the home states where an enterprise is organized, and an internationalized soft law hortatory regimes, grounded in the MNE Guidelines, as a vehicle for foreign relations and the extraterritorial harmonization of practice.

This post and the one that follows provides simple charts to suggest the consequences of these developments for the specific instance function of NCPs.    

 

(Pix (c) Larry Catá Backer 2013)

Part 27: Summing Up UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Part 26: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 26:  Charting the Reality of the Specific Instance Function--Single Country Analysis Continued

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

The examination of the US NCP has suggested a pattern of behavior that has been consistent across Republican and Democratic Administrations despite the well publicized re-imagining of the US NCP in 2011. (Parts 10-16). But is the conduct of the U.S. NCP and the policy premises this conduct applies unusual in this respect, or does the U.S. NCP reflect a common OECD NCP culture? This question was considered by examining the reports of the annual meetings of the NCs between 2001 and 2012 (Posts 17-22).  That examination suggested  that the United States position reflected a conventional and conservative position, but one shared by a number of other state NCPs.  The United States remains among the leaders of the NCP clique that views the MNE Guidelines project as inter-governmental in essence, that views with suspicion the development of MNE Guidelines principles through any judicialized framework or that might suggest a remedial or fact finding function for the NCP.  Lastly, the United States vigorously represents a view, not shared by other leading NCP states, that bifurcates enterprise governance rules between a domestic legal regime dominated by the laws of the home states where an enterprise is organized, and an internationalized soft law hortatory regimes, grounded in the MNE Guidelines, as a vehicle for foreign relations and the extraterritorial harmonization of practice.

This post and the one that follows provides simple charts to suggest the consequences of these developments for the specific instance function of NCPs.   

(Pix (c) Larry Catá Backer 2013)

Part 26: Charting the Reality of the Specific Instance Function--Single Country Analysis Countries UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Part 25: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 25:  Charting the Reality of the Specific Instance Function--Single Country Analysis Continued

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

The examination of the US NCP has suggested a pattern of behavior that has been consistent across Republican and Democratic Administrations despite the well publicized re-imagining of the US NCP in 2011. (Parts 10-16). But is the conduct of the U.S. NCP and the policy premises this conduct applies unusual in this respect, or does the U.S. NCP reflect a common OECD NCP culture? This question was considered by examining the reports of the annual meetings of the NCs between 2001 and 2012 (Posts 17-22).  That examination suggested  that the United States position reflected a conventional and conservative position, but one shared by a number of other state NCPs.  The United States remains among the leaders of the NCP clique that views the MNE Guidelines project as inter-governmental in essence, that views with suspicion the development of MNE Guidelines principles through any judicialized framework or that might suggest a remedial or fact finding function for the NCP.  Lastly, the United States vigorously represents a view, not shared by other leading NCP states, that bifurcates enterprise governance rules between a domestic legal regime dominated by the laws of the home states where an enterprise is organized, and an internationalized soft law hortatory regimes, grounded in the MNE Guidelines, as a vehicle for foreign relations and the extraterritorial harmonization of practice.

This post and the one that follows provides simple charts to suggest the consequences of these developments for the specific instance function of NCPs.   

(Pix (c) Larry Catá Backer 2013)



Part 25: Charting the Reality of the Specific Instance Function--Single Country Analysis Countries Continued UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Part 24: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 24:  Charting the Reality of the Specific Instance Function--Single Country Analysis

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

The examination of the US NCP has suggested a pattern of behavior that has been consistent across Republican and Democratic Administrations despite the well publicized re-imagining of the US NCP in 2011. (Parts 10-16). But is the conduct of the U.S. NCP and the policy premises this conduct applies unusual in this respect, or does the U.S. NCP reflect a common OECD NCP culture? This question was considered by examining the reports of the annual meetings of the NCs between 2001 and 2012 (Posts 17-22).  That examination suggested  that the United States position reflected a conventional and conservative position, but one shared by a number of other state NCPs.  The United States remains among the leaders of the NCP clique that views the MNE Guidelines project as inter-governmental in essence, that views with suspicion the development of MNE Guidelines principles through any judicialized framework or that might suggest a remedial or fact finding function for the NCP.  Lastly, the United States vigorously represents a view, not shared by other leading NCP states, that bifurcates enterprise governance rules between a domestic legal regime dominated by the laws of the home states where an enterprise is organized, and an internationalized soft law hortatory regimes, grounded in the MNE Guidelines, as a vehicle for foreign relations and the extraterritorial harmonization of practice.

This post and the one that follows provides simple charts to suggest the consequences of these developments for the specific instance function of NCPs.   

(Pix (c) Larry Catá Backer 2013)



Part 24: Charting the Reality of the Specific Instance Function--Single Country Analysis Countries UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Part 23: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 23:  Charting the Reality of the Specific Instance Function--All Countries

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

The examination of the US NCP has suggested a pattern of behavior that has been consistent across Republican and Democratic Administrations despite the well publicized re-imagining of the US NCP in 2011. (Parts 10-16). But is the conduct of the U.S. NCP and the policy premises this conduct applies unusual in this respect, or does the U.S. NCP reflect a common OECD NCP culture? This question was considered by examining the reports of the annual meetings of the NCs between 2001 and 2012 (Posts 17-22).  That examination suggested  that the United States position reflected a conventional and conservative position, but one shared by a number of other state NCPs.  The United States remains among the leaders of the NCP clique that views the MNE Guidelines project as inter-governmental in essence, that views with suspicion the development of MNE Guidelines principles through any judicialized framework or that might suggest a remedial or fact finding function for the NCP.  Lastly, the United States vigorously represents a view, not shared by other leading NCP states, that bifurcates enterprise governance rules between a domestic legal regime dominated by the laws of the home states where an enterprise is organized, and an internationalized soft law hortatory regimes, grounded in the MNE Guidelines, as a vehicle for foreign relations and the extraterritorial harmonization of practice.

This post and the one that follows provides simple charts to suggest the consequences of these developments for the specific instance function of NCPs.   

Part 22: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 22:  Does the U.S. NCP measure up (or Down) to the Activities of Other State NCPs Cont.: The 2011 and 2012 Summary Reports?

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

The examination of the US NCP has suggested a pattern of behavior that has been consistent across Republican and Democratic Administrations despite the well publicized re-imagining of the US NCP in 2011. The principle outlines of this behavior evidenced a strong policy that appeared to understand the MNE Guidelines project as substantially one directed outbound--that is that it served as an instrument of foreign but not domestic U.S. policy. In contrast, the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance tends to reflect and is incorporated as part of domestic U.S. policy.  As part of the foreign policy of the United States, the MNE Guidelines project are treated as an aspirational set of principles with no governance effects.  U.S. policy and practice is meant to reinforce the notion that these principles are hortatory, which should not be transformed, or  converted, either through elaboration in glosses from authoritative sources, or in their application in particular cases, or in the efforts to promote the MNE Guidelines, into something that acquires the characteristics of governance instruments. That approach substantially weakens the utility of the MNE Guidelines directly, and indirectly the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as a source of standards for governance norms at the international level, even as enterprises and their stakeholders continue to develop these norms and apply them to their conduct.

But is the conduct of the U.S. NCP and the policy premises this conduct applies unusual in this respect, or does the U.S. NCP reflect a common OECD NCP culture? This post completes consideration the U.S. NCP within the comparative context of the development of NCP "culture" since the institution of the NCP system in 2000. 

 

Part 21: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 21:  Does the U.S. NCP measure up (or Down) to the Activities of Other State NCPs Cont: The 2009 and 2010 Summary Reports?

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

The examination of the US NCP has suggested a pattern of behavior that has been consistent across Republican and Democratic Administrations despite the well publicized re-imagining of the US NCP in 2011. The principle outlines of this behavior evidenced a strong policy that appeared to understand the MNE Guidelines project as substantially one directed outbound--that is that it served as an instrument of foreign but not domestic U.S. policy. In contrast, the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance tends to reflect and is incorporated as part of domestic U.S. policy.  As part of the foreign policy of the United States, the MNE Guidelines project are treated as an aspirational set of principles with no governance effects.  U.S. policy and practice is meant to reinforce the notion that these principles are hortatory, which should not be transformed, or  converted, either through elaboration in glosses from authoritative sources, or in their application in particular cases, or in the efforts to promote the MNE Guidelines, into something that acquires the characteristics of governance instruments. That approach substantially weakens the utility of the MNE Guidelines directly, and indirectly the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as a source of standards for governance norms at the international level, even as enterprises and their stakeholders continue to develop these norms and apply them to their conduct.

But is the conduct of the U.S. NCP and the policy premises this conduct applies unusual in this respect, or does the U.S. NCP reflect a common OECD NCP culture? This post begins to consider the U.S. NCP in comparative perspective which will be carried over a number of subsequent posts.

Part 20: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 20:  Does the U.S. NCP measure up (or Down) to the Activities of Other State NCPs Cont: The 2007 and 2008 Summary Reports?

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

The examination of the US NCP has suggested a pattern of behavior that has been consistent across Republican and Democratic Administrations despite the well publicized re-imagining of the US NCP in 2011. The principle outlines of this behavior evidenced a strong policy that appeared to understand the MNE Guidelines project as substantially one directed outbound--that is that it served as an instrument of foreign but not domestic U.S. policy. In contrast, the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance tends to reflect and is incorporated as part of domestic U.S. policy.  As part of the foreign policy of the United States, the MNE Guidelines project are treated as an aspirational set of principles with no governance effects.  U.S. policy and practice is meant to reinforce the notion that these principles are hortatory, which should not be transformed, or  converted, either through elaboration in glosses from authoritative sources, or in their application in particular cases, or in the efforts to promote the MNE Guidelines, into something that acquires the characteristics of governance instruments. That approach substantially weakens the utility of the MNE Guidelines directly, and indirectly the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as a source of standards for governance norms at the international level, even as enterprises and their stakeholders continue to develop these norms and apply them to their conduct.

But is the conduct of the U.S. NCP and the policy premises this conduct applies unusual in this respect, or does the U.S. NCP reflect a common OECD NCP culture? This post begins to consider the U.S. NCP in comparative perspective which will be carried over a number of subsequent posts.

Part 19: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 19:  Does the U.S. NCP measure up (or Down) to the Activities of Other State NCPs Cont: The 2005 and 2006 Summary Reports?

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

The examination of the US NCP has suggested a pattern of behavior that has been consistent across Republican and Democratic Administrations despite the well publicized re-imagining of the US NCP in 2011. The principle outlines of this behavior evidenced a strong policy that appeared to understand the MNE Guidelines project as substantially one directed outbound--that is that it served as an instrument of foreign but not domestic U.S. policy. In contrast, the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance tends to reflect and is incorporated as part of domestic U.S. policy.  As part of the foreign policy of the United States, the MNE Guidelines project are treated as an aspirational set of principles with no governance effects.  U.S. policy and practice is meant to reinforce the notion that these principles are hortatory, which should not be transformed, or  converted, either through elaboration in glosses from authoritative sources, or in their application in particular cases, or in the efforts to promote the MNE Guidelines, into something that acquires the characteristics of governance instruments. That approach substantially weakens the utility of the MNE Guidelines directly, and indirectly the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as a source of standards for governance norms at the international level, even as enterprises and their stakeholders continue to develop these norms and apply them to their conduct.

But is the conduct of the U.S. NCP and the policy premises this conduct applies unusual in this respect, or does the U.S. NCP reflect a common OECD NCP culture? This post begins to consider the U.S. NCP in comparative perspective which will be carried over a number of subsequent posts.

Part 18: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 18:  Does the U.S. NCP measure up (or Down) to the Activities of Other State NCPs Cont: The 2003 and 2004 Summary Reports?

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

The examination of the US NCP has suggested a pattern of behavior that has been consistent across Republican and Democratic Administrations despite the well publicized re-imagining of the US NCP in 2011. The principle outlines of this behavior evidenced a strong policy that appeared to understand the MNE Guidelines project as substantially one directed outbound--that is that it served as an instrument of foreign but not domestic U.S. policy. In contrast, the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance tends to reflect and is incorporated as part of domestic U.S. policy.  As part of the foreign policy of the United States, the MNE Guidelines project are treated as an aspirational set of principles with no governance effects.  U.S. policy and practice is meant to reinforce the notion that these principles are hortatory, which should not be transformed, or  converted, either through elaboration in glosses from authoritative sources, or in their application in particular cases, or in the efforts to promote the MNE Guidelines, into something that acquires the characteristics of governance instruments. That approach substantially weakens the utility of the MNE Guidelines directly, and indirectly the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as a source of standards for governance norms at the international level, even as enterprises and their stakeholders continue to develop these norms and apply them to their conduct.

But is the conduct of the U.S. NCP and the policy premises this conduct applies unusual in this respect, or does the U.S. NCP reflect a common OECD NCP culture? This post continues consideration of the U.S. NCP in the comparative perspective of the NCP system from its domestic culture might be distinguished.

Part 17: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 17:  Does the U.S. NCP measure up (or Down) to the Activities of Other State NCPs: The 2001 and 2002 Summary Report?

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

The examination of the US NCP has suggested a pattern of behavior that has been consistent across Republican and Democratic Administrations despite the well publicized re-imagining of the US NCP in 2011. The principle outlines of this behavior evidenced a strong policy that appeared to understand the MNE Guidelines project as substantially one directed outbound--that is that it served as an instrument of foreign but not domestic U.S. policy. In contrast, the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance tends to reflect and is incorporated as part of domestic U.S. policy.  As part of the foreign policy of the United States, the MNE Guidelines project are treated as an aspirational set of principles with no governance effects.  U.S. policy and practice is meant to reinforce the notion that these principles are hortatory, which should not be transformed, or  converted, either through elaboration in glosses from authoritative sources, or in their application in particular cases, or in the efforts to promote the MNE Guidelines, into something that acquires the characteristics of governance instruments. That approach substantially weakens the utility of the MNE Guidelines directly, and indirectly the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as a source of standards for governance norms at the international level, even as enterprises and their stakeholders continue to develop these norms and apply them to their conduct.

But is the conduct of the U.S. NCP and the policy premises this conduct applies unusual in this respect, or does the U.S. NCP reflect a common OECD NCP culture? This post begins to consider the U.S. NCP in comparative perspective which will be carried over a number of subsequent posts.

Part 16: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 16:  The U.S. NCP and the Scope of its Information and Promotion Functions.

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

This post examines the way in which the informational and promotion role of the US NCP mirrors and harmonizes with the US NCP's approach to specific instance claims under the MNE Guidelines. The obsession with confidentiality, and therefore the extensive suspicion of transparency, ironic given the emphasis on transparency of the MNE Guidelines (see Backer, Larry Catá, Transparency Between Norm, Technique and Property in International Law and Governance--The Example of Corporate Disclosure Regimes and Environmental Impacts, Minnesota Journal of International Law 22:-- (forthcoming 2012)) , the narrowness of the interpretation of its obligations as an adhering state in the context of information sharing, suggest that the NCP's approach to specific instance claims is part of a broader approach to the U.S.'s engagement with its OECD obligations, one that continues to emphasize the foreignness of that work and its utility only for the projection of U.S. policy (now cloaked within the internationalism of the OECD).

Part 15: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 15:  The U.S. NCP and Specific Instance Claims:  The Obama Administration NCP Reorganization Cases 2012 Cont.

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

We continue to examine how basic US policy on the outbound application of the MNE Guidelines, and the US commitment to ensure that the MNE Guidelines acquire no indicia of law have shaped the work of the US NCP, even after the extensive reorganization and re-invigoration of of the NCP and its movement to the CSR. The object of this post is to consider the import of all of the US NCP's claims and extract an aggregate picture of its practices, one that does not seem to have changed to any appreciable extent after the reorganization of 2011-2012

Part 14: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 14:  The U.S. NCP and Specific Instance Claims:  The Obama Administration NCP Reorganization Cases 2012 

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

We have been considering the specific instance claims of the U.S. NCP. The claims through 2011 evidence a significant policy choice of the United States--that the OECD project in general and OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2011) (MNE Guidelines) in particular are understood as part of the foreign policy of the United States but has no connection with domestic U.S. policy. The OECD project and the MNE Guidelines express standards that ought to be transposed into the law of foreign states, but they form no part of U.S. law or policy.  The traditional division between U.S. law, grounded in traditional shareholder based corporate law principles and international law applied elsewhere, grounded in the human rights effects of corporate activity, remain quite distinct.  This post considers whether the current claims before the US NCP indicate a change in this basic structure of US policy.  

Part 13: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 13:  The U.S. NCP and Specific Instance Claims:  The Obama Administration NCP Reorganization Cases 2011 

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

With this post the series turns to the specific instance claims of the U.S. NCP.  The focus here is on the early claims considered by the U.S. National Contact Point under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2011) (MNE Guidelines). Subsequent posts will consider the claims and then on the context of the NCP system and note the divergence of the US approach to that of the specific instance jurisprudence of other OECD NCPs.

 

Part 12: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 12:  The U.S. NCP and Specific Instance Claims:  The Early Obama Administration Cases 2009-2010 

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

With this post the series turns to the specific instance claims of the U.S. NCP.  The focus here is on the early claims considered by the U.S. National Contact Point under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2011) (MNE Guidelines). Subsequent posts will consider the claims and then on the context of the NCP system and note the divergence of the US approach to that of the specific instance jurisprudence of other OECD NCPs.

Part 11: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 11:  The U.S. NCP and Specific Instance Claims:  The Cases 2005-2008 

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

With this post the series turns to the specific instance claims of the U.S. NCP.  The focus here is on the early claims considered by the U.S. National Contact Point under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2011) (MNE Guidelines). Subsequent posts will consider the claims and then on the context of the NCP system and note the divergence of the US approach to that of the specific instance jurisprudence of other OECD NCPs.

Part 10: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 10:  The U.S. NCP and Specific Instance Claims:  The Early Cases 2000-2004

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

With this post the series turns to the specific instance claims of the U.S. NCP.  The focus here is on the early claims considered by the U.S. National Contact Point under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2011) (MNE Guidelines). Subsequent posts will consider the claims and then on the context of the NCP system and note the divergence of the US approach to that of the specific instance jurisprudence of other OECD NCPs.

Part 9: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 9:  Transnational Law and the Construction of a New Jurisprudence of Governance--The Role of the NCP and the Specific Instance.

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

This post focuses on the self conception of the U.S. National Contact Point under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2011) (MNE Guidelines). Subsequent posts will consider the American National Contact Point within the context of the NCP system and note the divergence of the US approach to that of important European counterparts by considering its specific instance jurisprudence.

Part 8: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 8:  The Context of Specific Instance Statements Among OECD NCPs; a Study in Contrasts.

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

This post focuses on the self conception of the U.S. National Contact Point under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2011) (MNE Guidelines). Subsequent posts will consider the American National Contact Point within the context of the NCP system and note the divergence of the US approach to that of important European counterparts by considering its specific instance jurisprudence.

 

 

Part 7: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 7:  The Emerging Ideological Framework of the US National Contact Point.

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

This post focuses on the self conception of the U.S. National Contact Point under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2011) (MNE Guidelines). Subsequent posts will consider the American National Contact Point within the context of the NCP system and note the divergence of the US approach to that of important European counterparts by considering its specific instance jurisprudence.

Part 6; The U.S. National Contact Point--Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 6:  The US National Contact Point.

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

This post focuses on the architecture of the U.S. National Contact Point under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2011) (MNE Guidelines). Subsequent posts will consider the American National Contact Point within the context of the NCP system and note the divergence of the US approach to that of important European counterparts.

Part 5; The U.S. National Contact Point--Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

Part 5:  The MNE Guidelines' remedial architecture.

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

This post focuses on the remedial architecture of the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2011) (MNE Guidelines) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the central role of the National Contact Point system. Subsequent posts will consider the American National Contact Point and review of the way in which the U.S. National Contact Point has functioned within this system.

Part 4; The U.S. National Contact Point--Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization

 (Pix Source HERE)

This Blog Essay site devotes every February to a series of integrated but short essays on a single theme. For 2013 this site introduces a new theme: The U.S. National Contact Point: Corporate Social Responsibility Between Nationalism, Internationalism and Private Markets Based Globalization.

 

Part 4:The Transposition of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights into the MNE Guidelines:

This series builds on some ideas I have been working through for a number of years relating to a fundamental shift in the approaches to corporate governance that broaden the ambit of corporate governance issues from a singular focus on internal governance (the relationships among officers, shareholders and directors) to one that includes corporate behavior and the standards by which officers, directors and shareholders exercise their respective governance authority. This shift also changes the scope of what is understood as "law" to be applied to issues of corporate governance, from one principally focused on national law to governance norms that may be sourced in the declarations and other governance interventions of public and private international bodies. Lastly, it appears to point to an evolution to the role of the state from the principal source of standards and enforcer of law to a vehicle for the implementation of international standards  in which enforcement power is left to global market actors--principally consumers and investors function of the decisions of global actors.  All of this is inconsistent with traditional notions of the role of law, the scope of corporate governance and the nature of corporate social responsibility int he United States.  The extent to which the United States participates in the construction of these autonomous international systems may suggest the direction in which government policy may be moving away from the traditional consensus of corporate responsibility to something perhaps entirely new.

This post focuses on the human rights specific provisions of the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2011) (MNE Guidelines) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, focusing on its incorporation of the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Subsequent posts will consider the MNE Guidelines' remedial architecture.  That background will provide the foundation for a review of the way in which the U.S. National Contact Point has functioned within this system.