Emergence of an Institution for Sustainable Development: Cross-Country Study of Global Reporting Initiative

这项跨学科研究的主题是全球报告倡议组织（GRI），这是一个迅速扩散的标准化系统，用于全球公司自愿报告环境可持续性表现。将研究和比较三个具有不同环境监管风格的国家（美国、荷兰和匈牙利）的GRI制度化过程。研究的理论基础来自两个领域：经济社会学和企业组织的角度对制度;和比较研究的国家风格的环境商业监管。目的：（1）阐明GRI报告实践成为一种社会制度的机制;（2）确定影响正式GRI准则制度化的具体国家因素：其采用、调整以及随后在新背景下的运作;（3）在两个领域促进理论发展：新的非正式社会制度的出现;在不同国家和文化之间移植环境可持续性机构;（4）确定针对具体国家的政策办法，以提高公司在环境和可持续性业绩方面的透明度和问责制。这项工作将侧重于组织领域：它将跟踪共同组成全球报告倡议报告制度的主要行为者内部和之间的动态互动。它将使用一套具体标准，确定每个国家新兴机构的特点。三个假设，来自PI的以前的工作，将指导国际比较工作。该项目的数据将通过文件分析、访谈和对选定组织的个案研究来收集。匈牙利和荷兰的两支国际球队将陪同美国队。智力优点：这项研究的独特之处在于，它汇集了几个活跃但传统上独立的研究机构：环境企业监管国家风格的比较研究;制度理论;跨国家和文化的制度移植;以及环境政策分析（特别是关于使用信息披露作为监管工具）。该项目将有助于每个领域的理论发展，这四个研究领域之间的互动将丰富每一个贡献。该项目将重点放在一个私营和公共部门相结合的机构上也是独一无二的。更广泛的影响将出现在环境政策制定和全球治理领域。这项工作将有助于目前关于将企业视为政府和民间社会在追求环境保护和可持续发展方面的伙伴的政策辩论;它将有助于查明通过信息披露方案提高公司透明度和问责制的主要促进因素和障碍;它将使人们对一些关键问题产生新的见解，如新的全球可持续发展机构如何产生和演变，具体国情如何影响这些机构，以及民间规章和信息在追求环境可持续性方面的作用。这项工作的结果将为正在进行的关于可持续发展和环境保护方面的成功体制在多大程度上可以跨国家和跨文化移植的辩论提供信息。

The subject of this cross-disciplinary research is Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), a rapidly diffusing standardized system for voluntary reporting of environmental sustainability performance by companies worldwide. The process of institutionalization of the GRI in three countries with different environmental regulatory styles (the US, the Netherlands, and Hungary) will be examined and compared. The theoretical underpinnings of the research derive from two areas: economic-sociological, and business-organizational perspectives on institutions; and comparative study of national styles of environmental business regulation. Objectives: (1) To elucidate the mechanisms by which the practice of GRI reporting becomes a societal institution; (2) To identify country-specific factors affecting the institutionalization of formal GRI Guidelines: its adoption, adaptation, and subsequent workings in the new context; (3) To contribute to theory development in two areas: emergence of new informal societal institutions; transplantation of institutions for environmental sustainability across countries and cultures; (4) To identify country-specific policy approaches for enhancing corporate transparency and accountability with respect to environmental and sustainability performance. The work will focus on the organizational field: it will follow the dynamic interactions within and among the key actors who collectively comprise the institution of GRI reporting. It will identify the characteristics of the emerging institution in each country, using a set of specific criteria. Three hypotheses, derived from the PI's previous work, will guide the international comparative work. The data for the project will be collected through documentary analysis, interviews, and case studies of selected organizations. Two international teams-in Hungary and the Netherlands- will accompany the leading US team. Intellectual merit: What makes this research unique is that it brings together several active but traditionally separate bodies of research: comparative study of national styles of environmental business regulation; institutional theory; transplantation of institutions across countries and cultures; and environmental policy analysis (specifically with regard to using information disclosure as a regulatory tool). The project will contribute to theory development in each area, and the interaction among these four areas of research will enrich each contribution. The project's focus on an institution combining both private and public sectors is also unique. The broader impacts will be in the domains of environmental policy making and global governance. The work will contribute to the current policy debates concerning treating business as a partner to the government and civil society in pursuing environmental protection and sustainable development; It will contribute to identification of the major facilitating factors and barriers to increasing corporate transparency and accountability through information disclosure programs; It will generate fresh insights on such key questions as how new global institutions for sustainable development arise and evolve, how country-specific context impacts such institutions, and the role of civil regulation and information in pursuing environmental sustainability. The results of this work will inform the ongoing debate on the extent to which successful institutions for sustainable development and environmental protection can be transplanted across countries and cultures.