From the first stock markets of Amsterdam,London, and New York to the billions of electronic commerce transactions today, privately produced and enforced economic regulations are more common, more effective, and more promising than commonly considered. In Private Governance, prominent economist Edward Stringham presents case studies of the various forms of private enforcement, self-governance, or self-regulation among private groups or individuals that fill a void that government enforcement cannot. Through analytical narratives the book provides a close examination of the world's first stock markets, key elements of which were unenforceable by law; the community of Celebration, Florida, and other private communities that show how public goods can be bundled with land and provided more effectively; and the millions of credit-card transactions that occur daily and are regulated by private governance. Private Governance ultimately argues that while potential problems of private governance, such as fraud, are pervasive, so are the solutions it presents, and that much of what is orderly in the economy can be attributed to private groups and individuals. With meticulous research, Stringham demonstrates that private governance is a far more common source of order than most people realize, and that private parties have incentives to devise different mechanisms for eliminating unwanted behavior. Private Governance documents numerous examples of private order throughout history to illustrate how private governance is more resilient to internal and external pressure than is commonly believed. Stringham discusses why private governance has economic and social advantages over relying on government regulations and laws, and explores the different mechanisms that enable private governance, including sorting, reputation, assurance, and other bonding mechanisms. Challenging and rigorously-written, Private Governance will make a compelling read for those with an interest in economics, political philosophy, and the history of current Wall Street regulations.

In quantity and importance, private standards are rapidly taking over the role of public norms in the international and national regulation of product safety. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the rise, role and status of these private product safety standards in the legal regulation of integrating markets. In international and regional trade law as in European and American constitutional and administrative law, tort law and antitrust law, the book analyses the ways in which legal systems can and do recognise private norms as 'law.' This sociological question of law's recognition of private governance is indissolubly connected with a normative question of democratic theory: can law recognize legal validity and democratic legitimacy outside the constitution, without constitutional political institutions and beyond the nation state? Or: can law 'constitute' private transnational governance? The book offers the first systematic treatment of European, American and international 'standards law' in the English language, and makes a significant contribution to the study of the processes of globalization and privatization in social and legal theory. For the thesis on which this book was based Harm Schepel was awarded the first EUI Alumni Prize for the "best interdisciplinary and/or comparative thesis on European issues" written at the EUI in recent years.

Is there a future for the law? In this book, Florian Grisel addresses one of the most fascinating questions raised by social scientists in the past few decades. Since the 1980s, socio-legal scholars have argued that governance based on social norms (or “private governance”) can offer an alternative to regulation by the law. On this account, private governance could be socially efficient and even optimal compared with other modes of governance. The Limits of Private Governance supplements this optimistic analysis of private governance by assessing the long-term evolution of a private order in the fishery of Marseille. In the last eight centuries, the fishers of Marseille have regulated their community without apparent means of legal support from the French state. In the early 15th century, they even created an organisation called the Prud'homie de Pêche in order to regulate their fishery. Based on archival evidence, interviews and ethnographic data, Grisel examines the evolution of the Prud'homie de Pêche and argues that the strong social norms in which it is embedded are not only powerful tools of governance, but also forces of inertia that have constrained its regulatory action. The lessons drawn from this book will appeal to academics, policy-makers and members of the general public who have an interest in the governance of our modern societies.

As the Internet increasingly affects how we live and work, the challenges posed by borderless cybersecurity threats remain largely unaddressed. This book examines cybersecurity challenges, governance responses to them, and their limitations, engaging an interdisciplinary approach combining legal and international relations disciplines.

This volume explores a variety of forms of transnational private governance where non-state actors cooperate across borders to establish rules and standards accepted as legitimate by other agents. Transnational private governance is a core feature of the devolution of power that we observe in the global realm and that is bringing about new forms of authority. Transnational Private Governance provides theoretically and empirically informed insights into the interactions between states and non-state actors including domains beyond intergovernmental organizations, conventional non-governmental organizations, and multinational enterprises, covering a wide range of arrangements, from highly formal devolutions of power to lax and informal platforms of interaction between private actors. Contributing to the latest generation of globalization studies, the authors consider the relationship between states and markets as closely integrated and seek to broaden the scope of enquiry by including new patterns and agents of change on a transnational basis. This book will be of great interest to researchers and students of political science, international political economy, economics, business studies, globalisation and law.

This Handbook discusses the main issues, research, and theory on business and the natural environment, and how they impact on different business functions and disciplines

teachers and students of criminology and is a sourcebook for professionals.

The use of new information and communication technologies both inside the courts and in private online dispute resolution services is quickly changing everyday conflict management. However, the implications of the increasingly disruptive role of technology in dispute resolution remain largely undiscussed. In this book, assistant professor of law and digitalisation Riikka Koulu examines the multifaceted phenomenon of dispute resolution technology, focusing specifically on private enforcement, which modern technology enables on an unforeseen scale. The increase in private enforcement confounds legal structures and challenges the nation-state’s monopoly on violence. And, in this respect, the author argues that the technology-driven privatisation of enforcement – from direct enforcement of e-commerce platforms to self-executing smart contracts in the blockchain – brings the ethics of law’s coercive nature out into the open. This development constitutes a new, and dangerous, grey area of conflict management, which calls for transparency and public debate on the ethical implications of dispute resolution technology.

Cyber norms and other ways to regulate responsible state behavior in cyberspace is a fast-moving political and diplomatic field. The academic study of these processes is varied and interdisciplinary, but much of the literature has been organized according to discipline. Seeking to cross disciplinary boundaries, this timely book brings together researchers in fields ranging from international law, international relations, and political science to business studies and philosophy to explore the theme of responsible state behavior in cyberspace. . Divided into three parts, Governing Cyberspace first looks at current debates in and about international law and diplomacy in cyberspace. How does international law regulate state behaviour and what are its limits? How do cyber superpowers like China and Russia shape their foreign policy in relation to cyberspace? The second focuses on power and governance. What is the role for international organisations like NATO or for substate actors like intelligence agencies? How do they adapt to the realities of cyberspace and digital conflict? How does the classic balance of power play out in cyberspace and how do different states position themselves? The third part takes a critical look at multistakeholder and corporate diplomacy. How do global tech companies shape their role as norm entrepreneurs in cyberspace, and how do their cyber diplomatic efforts relate to their corporate identity?

Public concern about worsening global environmental and social conditions has led to skepticism about the efficacy of voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, and to pressure for governmental CSR engagement. One of the first studies to investigate the role of the state in CSR, this book provides insight into the new governance model of private-public co-regulation emerging around the globe. Examining forest certification in Canada, the US, and Sweden, Lister draws on extensive interviews with experts to offer unique evidence on CSR governance, ultimately arguing the importance of CSR as a supplement to rather than a substitute for state regulation.