IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jrpoli/v63y2019ic12.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Private sustainability governance in the making – A case study analysis of the fragmentation of sustainability governance for the gold sector

Author

Listed:
  • Heidingsfelder, Jens

Abstract

Governance is needed to address sustainability challenges along global value chains. Yet, the multiplicity or fragmentation of public and private sustainability governance resembles a potential hurdle for coping with sustainability challenges. This fragmentation is also intriguing from a research perspective, as little is known about the drivers of governance fragmentation in specific commodity sectors. This study assesses the fragmentation of sustainability governance in the global gold sector. Four general factors for fragmentation are derived from the literature: contextual factors, intra- and inter-organizational factors as well as scope of governance. A comprehensive case study, including a qualitative analysis of 26 in-depth interviews with experts in the gold sector, is used to investigate these general factors in the case of gold and to derive gold-specific factors for fragmentation. The five key findings are that, first, specific industry characteristics of the gold sector create actor-specific governance needs that lead to a multiplicity of governance schemes. Second, key governance references exist in the case of gold, but leave room for interpretation, thus encouraging a multiplicity of governance. Third, intra-organizational factors considerably impact the fragmentation of governance for gold, regarding different governance initiators and members, organizational logics, missions and ‘business models’ and the framing of sustainability. Fourth, the scope of governance strongly explains fragmentation in the gold sector. Fifth, competition between governance makers for gold provides only weak explanations for the resulting fragmentation. A conceptual framework is introduced that encapsulates general factors of fragmentation from the literature and gold-specific factors from the empirical findings. It serves to refine, enrich and display factors of fragmentation in their interaction in the gold sector. Insights from this study expand the scholarly knowledge on fragmented sustainability governance and provide a starting point for further cross-case and comparative studies of fragmented sustainability governance.

Suggested Citation

  • Heidingsfelder, Jens, 2019. "Private sustainability governance in the making – A case study analysis of the fragmentation of sustainability governance for the gold sector," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1-1.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:63:y:2019:i:c:12
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2019.101462
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420719302922
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.resourpol.2019.101462?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. de Bakker, Frank G.A. & Rasche, Andreas & Ponte, Stefano, 2019. "Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives on Sustainability: A Cross-Disciplinary Review and Research Agenda for Business Ethics," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 29(3), pages 343-383, July.
    2. Glasbergen, Pieter, 2018. "Smallholders do not Eat Certificates," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 243-252.
    3. Valerie Nelson & Anne Tallontire, 2014. "Battlefields of ideas: changing narratives and power dynamics in private standards in global agricultural value chains," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 31(3), pages 481-497, September.
    4. de Man, Reinier & German, Laura, 2017. "Certifying the sustainability of biofuels: Promise and reality," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 871-883.
    5. Childs, John, 2008. "Reforming small-scale mining in sub-Saharan Africa: Political and ideological challenges to a Fair Trade gold initiative," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 203-209, December.
    6. Anant K. Sundaram & Andrew C. Inkpen, 2004. "The Corporate Objective Revisited," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(3), pages 350-363, June.
    7. Williamson, Oliver E., 2010. "Transaction Cost Economics: The Natural Progression," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 215-226.
    8. Otto Hospes, 2014. "Marking the success or end of global multi-stakeholder governance? The rise of national sustainability standards in Indonesia and Brazil for palm oil and soy," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 31(3), pages 425-437, September.
    9. Turcotte, Marie-France & Reinecke, Juliane & den Hond, Frank, 2014. "Explaining variation in the multiplicity of private social and environmental regulation: a multi-case integration across the coffee, forestry and textile sectors," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 151-189, April.
    10. Manning, Stephan & Boons, Frank & von Hagen, Oliver & Reinecke, Juliane, 2012. "National contexts matter: The co-evolution of sustainability standards in global value chains," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 197-209.
    11. Holzscheiter, Anna & Bahr, Thurid & Pantzerhielm, Laura, 2016. "Emerging Governance Architectures in Global Health: Do Metagovernance Norms Explain Inter-Organisational Convergence?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 4(3), pages 5-19.
    12. Lone Riisgaard, 2011. "Towards more stringent sustainability standards? Trends in the cut flower industry," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(129), pages 435-453, September.
    13. Rodolphe Durand & Jean-Philippe Vergne, 2011. "The Path of Most Persistence: An Evolutionary Perspective on Path Dependence and Dynamic Capabilities," Post-Print hal-00583118, HAL.
    14. Frederick Armah & Isaac Luginaah & Justice Odoi, 2013. "Artisanal small-scale mining and mercury pollution in Ghana: a critical examination of a messy minerals and gold mining policy," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 3(4), pages 381-390, December.
    15. Sasser Erika N. & Prakash Aseem & Cashore Benjamin & Auld Graeme, 2006. "Direct Targeting as an NGO Political Strategy: Examining Private Authority Regimes in the Forestry Sector," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 8(3), pages 1-34, December.
    16. Antje Wahl & Gary Bull, 2014. "Mapping Research Topics and Theories in Private Regulation for Sustainability in Global Value Chains," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(4), pages 585-608, November.
    17. Anica Zeyen & Markus Beckmann & Stella Wolters, 2016. "Actor and Institutional Dynamics in the Development of Multi-stakeholder Initiatives," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 341-360, May.
    18. Fariborz Zelli & Harro van Asselt, 2013. "Introduction: The Institutional Fragmentation of Global Environmental Governance: Causes, Consequences, and Responses," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 13(3), pages 1-13, August.
    19. Hospes, Otto & Valk, Olga van der & Mheen-Sluijer, Jennie van der, 2012. "Parallel Development of Five Partnerships to Promote Sustainable Soy in Brazil: Solution or Part of Wicked Problems?," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 15(B), pages 1-24, December.
    20. Schouten, Greetje & Glasbergen, Pieter, 2011. "Creating legitimacy in global private governance: The case of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 1891-1899, September.
    21. Muradian, Roldan & Pelupessy, Wim, 2005. "Governing the coffee chain: The role of voluntary regulatory Systems," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(12), pages 2029-2044, December.
    22. Andreas Georg Scherer & Guido Palazzo, 2011. "The New Political Role of Business in a Globalized World: A Review of a New Perspective on CSR and its Implications for the Firm, Governance, and Democracy," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 899-931, June.
    23. José Carlos Marques, 2016. "Private Regulatory Fragmentation as Public Policy: Governing Canada’s Mining Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(4), pages 617-630, June.
    24. Bitzer, Verena, 2012. "Partnering for Change in Chains: the Capacity of Partnerships to Promote Sustainable Change in Global Agrifood Chains," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 15(B), pages 1-25, December.
    25. Frank Biermann & Philipp Pattberg & Harro van Asselt & Fariborz Zelli, 2009. "The Fragmentation of Global Governance Architectures: A Framework for Analysis," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 9(4), pages 14-40, November.
    26. Anant K. Sundaram & Andrew C. Inkpen, 2004. "Stakeholder Theory and “The Corporate Objective Revisited”: A Reply," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(3), pages 370-371, June.
    27. Agni Kalfagianni, 2014. "Addressing the Global Sustainability Challenge: The Potential and Pitfalls of Private Governance from the Perspective of Human Capabilities," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(2), pages 307-320, June.
    28. Finlay MacGregor & Vasna Ramasar & Kimberly A. Nicholas, 2017. "Problems with Firm-Led Voluntary Sustainability Schemes: The Case of Direct Trade Coffee," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-25, April.
    29. Giovannucci, Daniele & Ponte, Stefano, 2005. "Standards as a new form of social contract? Sustainability initiatives in the coffee industry," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 284-301, June.
    30. De Búrca, Gráinne & Keohane, Robert O. & Sabel, Charles, 2014. "Global Experimentalist Governance," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(03), pages 477-486, July.
    31. Mena, Sébastien & Palazzo, Guido, 2012. "Input and Output Legitimacy of Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(3), pages 527-556, July.
    32. Manning, Stephan & Reinecke, Juliane, 2016. "A modular governance architecture in-the-making: How transnational standard-setters govern sustainability transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 618-633.
    33. Schouten, Greetje & Bitzer, Verena, 2015. "The emergence of Southern standards in agricultural value chains: A new trend in sustainability governance?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 175-184.
    34. Millard, Edward, 2017. "Still brewing: Fostering sustainable coffee production," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 7, pages 32-42.
    35. Laura Raynolds & Douglas Murray & Andrew Heller, 2007. "Regulating sustainability in the coffee sector: A comparative analysis of third-party environmental and social certification initiatives," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 24(2), pages 147-163, June.
    36. Andrews, Nathan, 2016. "Challenges of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in domestic settings: An exploration of mining regulation vis-à-vis CSR in Ghana," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 9-17.
    37. Anna Holzscheiter & Thurid Bahr & Laura Pantzerhielm, 2016. "Emerging Governance Architectures in Global Health: Do Metagovernance Norms Explain Inter-Organisational Convergence?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(3), pages 5-19.
    38. Leanne Johnstone, 2019. "Temporal Strategic Knowledge-sharing Nets as Instances of Sustainability Governance in Practice," Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 23-43, January.
    39. Louis Meuleman & Ingeborg Niestroy, 2015. "Common But Differentiated Governance: A Metagovernance Approach to Make the SDGs Work," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-27, September.
    40. Kenneth W Abbott, 2012. "The Transnational Regime Complex for Climate Change," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 30(4), pages 571-590, August.
    41. Rasche, Andreas, 2012. "Global Policies and Local Practice: Loose and Tight Couplings in Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(4), pages 679-708, October.
    42. Sasser, Erika N. & Prakash, Aseem & Cashore, Benjamin & Auld, Graeme, 2006. "Direct Targeting as an NGO Political Strategy: Examining Private Authority Regimes in the Forestry Sector," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 1-32, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xuesong Li & Yunlong Ding, 2020. "Holistic Governance for Sustainable Public Services: Reshaping Government–Enterprise Relationships in China’s Digital Government Context," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Schleper, Martin C. & Blome, Constantin & Stevenson, Mark & Thürer, Matthias & Tusell, Iu, 2022. "When it’s the slaves that pay: In search of a fair due diligence cost distribution in conflict mineral supply chains," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jens Heidingsfelder & Markus Beckmann, 2020. "A governance puzzle to be solved? A systematic literature review of fragmented sustainability governance," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 70(3), pages 355-390, August.
    2. Domenico Dentoni & Verena Bitzer & Greetje Schouten, 2018. "Harnessing Wicked Problems in Multi-stakeholder Partnerships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(2), pages 333-356, June.
    3. van der Ven, Hamish & Sun, Yixian & Cashore, Benjamin, 2021. "Sustainable commodity governance and the global south," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    4. José Carlos Marques & Burkard Eberlein, 2021. "Grounding transnational business governance: A political‐strategic perspective on government responses in the Global South," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(4), pages 1209-1229, October.
    5. Verena Bitzer & Alessia Marazzi, 2021. "Southern sustainability initiatives in agricultural value chains: a question of enhanced inclusiveness? The case of Trustea in India," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(2), pages 381-395, June.
    6. Janina Grabs, 2020. "Assessing the institutionalization of private sustainability governance in a changing coffee sector," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(2), pages 362-387, April.
    7. Norma Schönherr, 2022. "Same Same but Different? A Quantitative Exploration of Voluntary Sustainability Standards in Agriculture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-18, April.
    8. Simona Fiandrino & Francesco Scarpa & Riccardo Torelli, 2022. "Fostering Social Impact Through Corporate Implementation of the SDGs: Transformative Mechanisms Towards Interconnectedness and Inclusiveness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(4), pages 959-973, November.
    9. Andrew Gerard & Maria Claudia Lopez & Aaron M. McCright, 2019. "Coffee Roasters’ Sustainable Sourcing Decisions and Use of the Direct Trade Label," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-19, September.
    10. Greetje Schouten & Otto Hospes, 2018. "Public and Private Governance in Interaction: Changing Interpretations of Sovereignty in the Field of Sustainable Palm Oil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-15, December.
    11. Gallemore, Caleb & Guisinger, Amy & Kruuse, Mikkel & Ruysschaert, Denis & Jespersen, Kristjan, 2018. "Escaping the “Teenage” Years: The Politics of Rigor and the Evolution of Private Environmental Standards," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 76-87.
    12. Mikkel Kruuse & Kasper Reming Tangbæk & Kristjan Jespersen & Caleb Gallemore, 2019. "Navigating Input and Output Legitimacy in Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives: Institutional Stewards at Work," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-27, November.
    13. Atika Wijaya & Pieter Glasbergen & Pieter Leroy & Ari Darmastuti, 2018. "Governance challenges of cocoa partnership projects in Indonesia: seeking synergy in multi-stakeholder arrangements for sustainable agriculture," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 129-153, February.
    14. Erin Leitheiser, 2021. "How domestic contexts shape international private governance: The case of the European Accord and American Alliance in Bangladesh," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(4), pages 1286-1303, October.
    15. Sippl, Kristin, 2020. "Southern Responses to Fair Trade Gold: Cooperation, Complaint, Competition, Supplementation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    16. Stéphane Guéneau, 2018. "Neoliberalism and the Emergence of Private Sustainability Initiatives: The Case of the Brazilian Cattle Value Chain," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(2), pages 240-251, February.
    17. Bitzer, Verena, 2012. "Partnering for Change in Chains: the Capacity of Partnerships to Promote Sustainable Change in Global Agrifood Chains," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 15(B), pages 1-25, December.
    18. Simon L. Bager & Eric F. Lambin, 2020. "Sustainability strategies by companies in the global coffee sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3555-3570, December.
    19. Melanie Richards & Thomas Zellweger & Jean-Pascal Gond, 2017. "Maintaining Moral Legitimacy through Worlds and Words: An Explanation of Firms' Investment in Sustainability Certification," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(5), pages 676-710, July.
    20. Kelly Gerard, 2023. "Doing aid chains differently: Evaluating the potential of Multi‐Stakeholder Partnerships," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 41(1), January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:63:y:2019:i:c:12. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30467 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.