The New Global Rulers: The Privatization of Regulation in the World Economy - Hardcover

Büthe, Tim; Mattli, Walter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691144796 ISBN 13: 9780691144795

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2011

Synopsis

Over the past two decades, governments have delegated extensive regulatory authority to international private-sector organizations. This internationalization and privatization of rule making has been motivated not only by the economic benefits of common rules for global markets, but also by the realization that government regulators often lack the expertise and resources to deal with increasingly complex and urgent regulatory tasks. The New Global Rulers examines who writes the rules in international private organizations, as well as who wins, who loses--and why. Tim Buthe and Walter Mattli examine three powerful global private regulators: the International Accounting Standards Board, which develops financial reporting rules used by corporations in more than a hundred countries; and the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission, which account for 85 percent of all international product standards. Buthe and Mattli offer both a new framework for understanding global private regulation and detailed empirical analyses of such regulation based on multi-country, multi-industry business surveys. They find that global rule making by technical experts is highly political, and that even though rule making has shifted to the international level, domestic institutions remain crucial. Influence in this form of global private governance is not a function of the economic power of states, but of the ability of domestic standard-setters to provide timely information and speak with a single voice. Buthe and Mattli show how domestic institutions' abilities differ, particularly between the two main standardization players, the United States and Europe.

About this title

Product Description:

The New Global Rulers Over the years, governments have delegated extensive regulatory authority to international private-sector organizations. This book examines who writes the rules in international private organizations, as well as who wins, who loses - and why.

Review:

"Tim Büthe and Walter Mattli say something new and important about the world economy. Better yet, they prove their case. As economic interdependence grows and with it the need for clear global rules, more and more of those rules are being developed by private regulatory groups. Büthe and Mattli not only document this shift, they show how inherently political the process is."--Charles Lipson, University of Chicago

"When you buy an electrical appliance or rely on corporate accounts, you are affected by transnational private regulation--a technical arena that is also highly political. In The New Global Rulers, Tim Büthe and Walter Mattli brilliantly explain who wins, and who governs, in this significant but under-studied domain."--Robert O. Keohane, Princeton University

"The New Global Rulers covers a big topic--an important and growing one, with an ever-wider audience."--Peter A. Gourevitch, University of California, San Diego, and coauthor of Political Power and Corporate Control

"In a world where global standards increasingly determine access to world markets, understanding how those standards are set is of vital concern to citizens, governments, and firms. This deeply informed book asks the questions and presents the often counterintuitive facts about the relation between domestic interests and global rule making that will set the intellectual agenda and shape political discussion in this area for years to come."--Charles Sabel, Columbia Law School

"Büthe and Mattli's survey of hundreds of senior financial managers is a window into a world most of us have observed only anecdotally. This impressive book convincingly reveals that the global regulatory advantage goes to those actors who can get useful information into the right hands at the right time. Bravo on a compelling story about how private firms, industry organizations, and local regulators contribute to the global governance of finance and production."--Beth Simmons, Harvard University

"Analytically powerful. Both the empirical material and the theoretical analysis are significant contributions, and I think they will be quite influential. The book's impact will be enhanced by its unusually clear writing and engaging discussions of history and examples. It is a very accessible volume, which should give it considerable crossover appeal beyond international-relations scholars."--Kenneth W. Abbott, Arizona State University

"Winner of the 2012 International Studies Association's Best Book Award"

"Their comprehensive survey provides compelling evidence of their theory and invaluably enhances our understanding of international standard setting. . . . The authors can . . . take credit for having developed a convincing theory on the main drivers of power within this specific and widespread phenomenon of global ruling. The book is, without a doubt, highly recommended. While it is primarily intended for scholars, it provides very interesting insights for anyone interested in how global standard setting works, in its historical, political, and socio economic background, and in its significance for global governance in general."---Matthias Schmidt, Accounting Review

"This interesting book about an overlooked subject has a misleading title. The global rulers in question are relatively anonymous nongovernmental groups that set international standards. Business exerts its power, both directly and through government, in selecting and influencing the rule makers. The rules help to determine winners and losers in the marketplace, as well as the public welfare. These rules also provide advantages to specific countries and regions. At a time when government regulation has fallen out of favor, the power of these unaccountable nongovernmental authorities deserves the closer scrutiny that this book provides."--Choice

"Opening the 'black box' of private rule-making, [Büthe and Mattli] seek to analyze 'who writes the rules in international private organizations, as well as who wins, who loses--and why.' They dispute claims that international standardization is an apolitical scientific process, bringing to the fore the often under-appreciated political nature of so-called technical activities."--Book Notes

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0691144796
• ISBN 13: 9780691144795
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320