Work

Smart‐Mix or Stupid Assurances? How Businesses Used Voluntary Initiatives to (De)Legitimize Supply Chain Regulation

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT Mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) policies seem to represent a pathbreaking shift from voluntary measures to binding rules for global supply chains. Yet these policies endorse a “smart‐mix” of voluntary and mandatory measures, and risk over‐reliance on questionable private‐sector assurances. In this paper, we ask how businesses framed these private/voluntary efforts in the face of looming regulation, focusing on the EU's new Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Through a systematic coding of policy positions, we find businesses (1) using voluntary initiatives to delegitimize mandatory measures , (2) seeking to institutionalize voluntary norms , (3) pushing for private assurances to signify legal compliance , or (4) endorsing mandatory measures to protect the competitive advantage of sustainability leaders. While frames (1) and (4) shaped the debate, we argue that frames (2) and (3) are more fully reflected in the final text of the Directive. We explore both theoretical and practical implications.

Source: Global Policy

DOI: 10.1111/1758-5899.70075

Authors: Maria‐Therese Gustafsson, Tim Bartley, Simon Pierre Boulanger Martel, John Murray

Institutions: Stockholm University, Georgetown University, Swedish Defence University, Lund University

Language: English

Topic: Corporate Law and Human Rights

Subfield: Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Responsible consumption and production, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,200