Is private sustainability governance a myth? Evaluating major sustainability certifications in primary production: A mixed methods meta-study

Voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) and certification schemes (SC) are widely regarded as popular self-regulatory approaches to regulating social and environmental outcomes in global value chains. Based on a sample of 175 peer-reviewed articles, we use a novel mixed methods meta-analytical approach to study the effects and problem-solving capacity of these approaches in bio-based commodity chains. We consider both qualitative and quantitative studies. Our main data source are the discussion and conclusion sections of research papers. We analyze conclusive statements about the success of SCs and categorize them into favorable, mixed, and skeptical evaluations. The picture is dominated by skeptical conclusions. Subsequently, we analyze how specific study characteristics affect this evaluation. The distribution of favorable, mixed, and skeptical evaluations is largely similar across the areas of economic, social, and environmental sustainability. Over time, the share of skeptical evaluations has increased. Contextual factors such as primary sub-sector, or country show no significant effects. The evaluations are also largely consistent across different types of Standards. Studies focusing on endpoint sustainability outcomes evaluate the performance of SCs significantly more skeptical than studies that focus on intermediate sustainability outcomes. Furthermore, our study shows that the share of skeptical evaluations significantly increases when a study examines the success of SCs for outcome variables with high implementation costs. Overall, our review points towards a limited success of self-regulation. The increasing role of states in regulating global value chains through new trade and due diligence laws can be explained in part as a reaction to the dysfunctionality of self-regulatory governance regimes.