Just Released!
Voluntary Programs: A Club Theory Perspective
Edited by Matthew Potoski and Aseem Prakash
MIT Press, 2009
The recent growth of voluntary programs has attracted the attention of
policymakers, nongovernmental organizations, and scholars. Thousands of firms
around the world participate in these programs, in which members agree to
undertake socially beneficial actions that go beyond the requirements of
government regulations, such as following labor codes in the apparel industry,
adhering to international accounting standards, and adopting internal
environmental management systems. This book analyzes the efficacy of a variety
of voluntary programs using a club theory, political-economy framework. It
examines how programs' design influences their effectiveness as policy tools.
It finds that voluntary programs have achieved uneven success because of their
varying standards and enforcement procedures.
The club theory framework views voluntary programs as institutions that
create incentives for firms to incur the costs of taking progressive
action beyond what is required by law in exchange for benefits that
nonmembers do not enjoy (such as enhanced standing with stakeholders).
Voluntary Programs develops this theoretical framework and applies it to
voluntary programs sponsored by industry associations, governments, and
nongovernmental organizations, organized around policy issues such as
"blood diamonds," shipping, sweatshops, and the environment. The wide
diversity of cases across sectors, sponsoring organizations, and
objectives provides valuable applications of the club framework, generates
new insights for future research, and offers practical guidance for
designing effective programs.
Table of Contents:
Voluntary Clubs: An Introduction
Matthew Potoski and Aseem Prakash
Section I Theories of Voluntary Clubs
A Club Theory Approach to Voluntary Programs
Matthew Potoski and Aseem Prakash
Clubs, Credence Standards, and Social Pressure
David P. Baron
An Economics Perspective on Treating Voluntary Programs as Clubs
Matthew J. Kotchen and Klaas van t Veld
Section II: II Industry and International Clubs
The Kimberly Process, Club Goods, and Public Enforcement of a
Private Regime
Virginia Haufler
Standards for Sweatshops: The Power and Limits of the Club
Approach to Voluntary Labor Standards
Tim Bartley
Voluntary Agreements and the Shipping Industry
Elizabeth R. DeSombre
Technical Standards as Public and Club Goods: Who Is Financing
the International Accounting Standards Board and Why?
Tim Buthe
How Universal Are Club Standards? Emerging Markets and Volunteerism
Daniel W. Drezner and Mimi Lu
Section III: III Governmental and NGO Clubs
Green Clubs: A New Tool for Government?
Daniel J. Fiorino
Government Clubs: Theory and Evidence from Voluntary
Environmental Programs
Cary Coglianese and Jennifer Nash
Self-regulation and Voluntary Programs among Nonprofit Organizations
Mary Kay Gugerty
Conclusion
Voluntary Clubs: Future Prospects
Aseem Prakash and Matthew Potoski
Endorsements
"Voluntary Programs identifies two key problems with arrangements to induce
firms to be socially responsible: incentives to join and dangers of shirking.
It emphasizes the value to participants, under scarce-information conditions,
of reputations held in common, and explores the strengths and weaknesses of
club theory. This well-designed and well-integrated volume makes significant
empirical as well as theoretical contributions to its subject." --- Robert O.
Keohane, Professor of International Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School of Public
and International Affairs, Princeton University
"A good theoretical foundation backed up with strong empirical evidence makes
Voluntary Programs an outstanding volume for the social sciences. I strongly
recommend it." --- Elinor Ostrom, Co-Director, Workshop in Political Theory and
Policy Analysis, Indiana University
"The editors have assembled an intellectually diverse and highly distinguished
group of scholars who collectively have made important theoretical and
empirical contributions to the literature on voluntary business codes. I highly
recommend this book to anyone interested in better understanding the political
and organizational dynamics of business self-regulation." --- David Vogel, Haas
School of Business, Department of Political Science, University of California,
Berkeley
"Using various analytical techniques, this volume makes an important
contribution to the literature on voluntary programs, especially as regards the
linkages between program design and efficacy." --- Dick Morgenstern, Senior
Fellow, Resources for the Future
********************************************
Aseem Prakash
Professor
Department of Political Science
39 Gowen Hall, Box 353530
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-3530
206-543-2399
206-685-2146 (fax)
aseem@u.washington.edu
http://faculty.washington.edu/aseem/