The IPE of global corporations

Mikler, John

doi:10.4324/9781351064545-50

Cited by 18 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…The Code was, in some respects, a product of its time. The 1970s80s was an era of accelerating globalization, with rapid growth in the number and size of transnational corporations, and their economic power relative to nation states [ 30 , 51 ]. With this came vocal calls from civil society, many governments, and various UN agencies, for the internationalisation of corporate regulation, with The Code being one among ~30 suchcodes and guidelines proposed across the UN system at the time [ 30 , 31 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, we used Big Formula to refer to the corporations that manufacture and distribute BMS on an industrial scale, most but not all, being transnational corporations with a market presence in two or more country markets. We also viewed each corporation as anchored in their country of origin, and hence as identifying with nationally-derived cultures, operational structures and relationships with their home country governments [ 50 , 51 ]. The baby food industry comprises Big Formula at its core, but also the dairy industry and other input suppliers, retailers, advertising agencies, and various other commercial entities who profit from BMS [ 21 , 23 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Executives and senior management run corporations, with a fiduciary duty to maximise profit, and through sustained profit, generate returns to shareholders (the owners) [ 50 , 51 ]. To realise this interest, every effort is made within the legal constraints the corporation operates under, and sometimes beyond these constraints, to externalize as much of its costs of production as possible.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Globalization, first-foods systems transformations and corporate power: a synthesis of literature and data on the market and political practices of the transnational baby food industry

et al. 2021

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Background The global milk formula market has ‘boomed’ in recent decades, raising serious concerns for breastfeeding, and child and maternal health. Despite these developments, few studies have investigated the global expansion of the baby food industry, nor the market and political practices corporations have used to grow and sustain their markets. In this paper, our aim is to understand the strategies used by the baby food industry to shape ‘first-foods systems’ across its diverse markets, and in doing so, drive milk formula consumption on a global scale. We used a theoretically guided synthesis review method, which integrated diverse qualitative and quantitative data sources. Results Global milk formula sales grew from ~US$1.5 billion in 1978 to US$55.6 billion in 2019. This remarkable expansion has occurred along two main historical axes. First, the widening geographical reach of the baby food industry and its marketing practices, both globally and within countries, as corporations have pursued new growth opportunities, especially in the Global South. Second, the broadening of product ranges beyond infant formula, to include an array of follow-up, toddler and specialized formulas for a wider range of age groups and conditions, thereby widening the scope of mother-child populations subject to commodification. Sophisticated marketing techniques have been used to grow and sustain milk formula consumption, including marketing through health systems, mass-media and digital advertising, and novel product innovations backed by corporate science. To enable and sustain this marketing, the industry has engaged in diverse political practices to foster favourable policy, regulatory and knowledge environments. This has included lobbying international and national policy-makers, generating and deploying favourable science, leveraging global trade rules and adopting corporate policies to counter regulatory action by governments. Conclusion The baby food industry uses integrated market and political strategies to shape first-foods systems in ways that drive and sustain milk formula market expansion, on a global scale. Such practices are a major impediment to global implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes, and other policy actions to protect, promote and support breastfeeding. New modalities of public health action are needed to negate the political practices of the industry in particular, and ultimately to constrain corporate power over the mother-child breastfeeding dyad.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Globalization, first-foods systems transformations and corporate power: a synthesis of literature and data on the market and political practices of the transnational baby food industry

et al. 2021

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“…How could one get corporations to comply with human rights standards that were crafted specifically for states (Dingwerth & Pattberg, 2009)? How could firm behaviour be regulated across jurisdictions, and how could firms be nudged into more responsible business practices, often at the expense of their overall bottomline (Mikler, 2018)?…”

Section: The Evolution Of Corporate Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

The platform governance triangle: conceptualising the informal regulation of online content

Gorwa¹

2019

Internet Policy Review

123

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From the new Facebook 'Oversight Body' for content moderation to the 'Christchurch Call to eliminate terrorism and violent extremism online,' a growing number of voluntary and non-binding informal governance initiatives have recently been proposed as attractive ways to rein in Facebook, Google, and other platform companies hosting user-generated content.Drawing on the literature on transnational corporate governance, this article reviews a number of informal arrangements governing online content on platforms in Europe, mapping them onto Abbott and Snidal's ( 2009) 'governance triangle' model. I discuss three key dynamics shaping the success of informal governance arrangements: actor competencies, 'legitimation politics,' and inter-actor relationships of power and coercion.

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“…This perspective is related to Mikler's (2018) notion of "discursive legitimacy," but instead of legitimacy being a result of discursive power, it is the source of power.…”

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confidence: 99%

Navigating norms and invisible rules: Explaining the case of business influence in international shipping regulation

Hendriksen

2022

Bus. Polit.

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This article develops a micro-level theoretical perspective of business influence in international negotiations. By drawing on organizational institutional theory, the article proposes that site-specific institutionalized norms can structure the nature and extent of business power. The article illustrates the value of this perspective through an illustrative case study of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) through interviews and participant observation of on-site dynamics during negotiations on environmental shipping regulation. The article shows how, in the case of the IMO, specific institutionalized norms and beliefs structure private actors’ possible influence and their claims to authority. In particular, strongly held beliefs about the nature of political deliberation in the IMO both constrain and enable business interests, sometimes overriding the general structural power of the shipping industry. This research implies that future scholarship of business power and lobbying should be attentive to specific institutionalized ideas structuring business actors’ range of legitimate activities, in particular in international institutions where individual negotiation sites can develop idiosyncratic norms and beliefs about the legitimacy of private actor participation.

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The IPE of global corporations

Cited by 18 publications

References 1 publication

Globalization, first-foods systems transformations and corporate power: a synthesis of literature and data on the market and political practices of the transnational baby food industry

Globalization, first-foods systems transformations and corporate power: a synthesis of literature and data on the market and political practices of the transnational baby food industry

The platform governance triangle: conceptualising the informal regulation of online content

Navigating norms and invisible rules: Explaining the case of business influence in international shipping regulation

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