Interactions Between Business Power and Different Forms of Regulation

The role of business actors in the formulation of policy has been discussed by multiple scholars. Amongst business actors, transnational corporations (TNCs) play a particularly important role. This is due the resources at their disposal, which surpass those of many states, as well as their global nature, which allows them to operate in multiple countries simultaneously as well as the international level. This paper will attempt to combine the question of how businesses exert power, with considerations regarding the reasoning behind possible policy objectives of the business sector. To do so, the concept of business power, consisting of different dimensions (Fuchs 2013), and their relationship with home states (Mikler 2018) will be combined with considerations regarding different forms of harder and softer law in the form of obligation, precision and delegation (Abbott et al. 2002). It will use this basis to consider, how different forms of regulation interact with the sources of business power, as well as how business power influences policy formulation. The theoretical argument will then be illustrated using examples from the field of European environmental politics. By combining the “how” (business power) with the “what” (harder or softer regulation) in analysing business power, this paper aims to add to the understanding of how business power interacts with harder and softer forms of regulation, ranging from obligatory law to private governance and how business power influences policy design in these categories.