Public orchestration,social networks,and transnational environmental governance: Lessons from the aviation industry

This article contributes to current debates on the potential and limitations of transnational environmental governance, addressing in particular the issue of how private and public regulation compete and/or reinforce each other – and with what results. One of the most influential approaches to emerge in recent years has been that of “orchestration.” But while recent discussions have focused on a narrow interpretation of orchestration as intermediation, we argue that there is analytical traction in studying orchestration as a combination of directive and facilitative tools. We also argue that a social network analytical perspective on orchestration can improve our understanding of how governments and international organizations can shape transnational environmental governance. Through a case study of aviation, we provide two contributions to these debates: first, we propose four analytical factors that facilitate the possible emergence of orchestration (issue visibility, interest alignment, issue scope, and regulatory fragmentation and uncertainty); and second, we argue that orchestrators are more likely to succeed when they employ two strategies: (i) they use a combination of directive and facilitative instruments, including the provision of feasible incentives for industry actors to change their behavior, backed up by regulation or a credible regulatory threat; and (ii) they are robustly embedded in, and involved in the formation of, the relevant transnational networks of actors and institutions that provide the infrastructure of governance. © 2017 JohnWiley & Sons Australia, Ltd     

The Arguments from Coherence: Analysis and Evaluation

In this article, the theory of argumentation set out by theDutch scholars Frans van Eemeren and Rob Grootendorst is broughtto bear in subjecting the general form of the argument fromcoherence to a critical analysis. First, a distinction is broughtout between two basic kinds of argument from coherence: in oneuse this argumentative structure occurs as a sequence of twoarguments establishing that a standpoint constitutes a particularinstantiation or a inherent quality of the system it will becomepart of (symptomatic argument); in the other use we have a mainsymptomatic argument supported by a subordinate argument appealingto instrumental considerations (pragmatic argument). It is thenclaimed that arguments from coherence are complex types of argumentation,structured at various argumentative levels, where the premisesmust be taken together to yield an adequate defence of the conclusion(coordinative argumentation). Finally, an evaluative assessmentis made as to whether arguments from coherence can serve acceptablyas tools for settling disputes: it will be maintained that wecan generally welcome these argumentative structures as soundand fully acceptable provided we are aware of the interpretivediscretion their use entails.     

Eric W. Orts and Kurt Deketelaere (eds.) 2001. Environmental Contracts: Comparative Approaches to Regulatory Innovation in the United States and Europe. The Hague: Kluwer Law.

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics -     

Capital united? Business unity in regulatory politics and the special place of finance

While organized business is a key actor in regulatory politics, its influence is often conditional on the level of unity or conflict occurring within the business community at any given time. Most contemporary regulatory policy interventions put pressure on the normal mechanisms of business unity, as they are highly targeted and sector‐specific. This raises the question of how business unity operates across a highly variegated economic terrain in which costs are asymmetric and free‐riding incentives are high. In this paper, we empirically assess patterns of business unity within regulatory policymaking across different regulated sectors. Our analysis utilizes data from hundreds of regulatory policy proposals and business community reactions to them in the telecommunications, energy, agriculture, pharmaceutical, and financial sectors over a variety of institutional contexts. We find considerable empirical support for the “finance capital unity” hypothesis – the notion that the financial sector enjoys more business unity than other regulated sectors of the economy. When the financial sector is faced with new regulations, business groups from other sectors frequently come to its aid.     

Individual Behavior as a Defense in the “War on Cyberterror”: A System Dynamics Approach

ABSTRACT

The problem of cyberterrorism, despite its contested nature, is an important area of research. Scholars agree that the most dangerous targets for such attacks are critical infrastructure and organizations that are vital to society due to their interconnectedness to the modern world and their increasing reliance on the cyber domain for their operations. Thus, their security and protection against cyberterrorism is of elevated importance. Given the lack of documented cases of cyberterrorism, the purpose of this article is to simulate the threat of a terrorist act on a critical infrastructure, using a computer virus and to investigate how the individual behavior of employees affects security.     

The implementation of the EU Prospectus Directive - a country-by-country analysis

Dr. Axel Gehringer HengelerMueller David Byers McCann FitzGerald, Solicitors, Dublin, Ireland Stefano Cuccia Head of Regulation, TLX, Milan Henri Wagner Allen and Overy, Luxembourg Petra Zijp NautaDutilh, Amsterdam José Manuel Cuenca and Yolanda Azanza Clifford Chance Daniel Bushner and Jonathan Parry Ashurst, London The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.