Business, Power and Sustainability in a World of Global Value Chains
Abstract
The interaction of sustainability governance and global value chains has crucial implications the world over. When it comes to sustainability the last decade has witnessed the birth of hybrid forms of governance where business, civil society and public actors interact at different levels, leading to a focus on concepts of legitimacy within multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs). Based in over 15 years of theoretical engagement and field research, Business, Power and Sustainability draws from both labour-intensive value chains, such as in the agro-food sector (coffee, wine, fish, biofuels, palm oil), and from capital-intensive value chains such as in shipping and aviation, to discuss how sustainability governance can be best designed, managed and institutionalized in today’s world of global value chains (GVCs). Examining current theoretical and analytical efforts aimed at including sustainability issues in GVC governance theory, it expands on recent work examining GVC upgrading by introducing the concept of environmental upgrading; and
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Large transnational corporations leading the discourse on and investments in CE initiatives create a risk of co-option that could undermine market competition and consumer choice.
“Large transnational corporations leading the discourse on, and investments in, CE initiatives also create a risk of co-option, whereby powerful actors that are already prospering because of the current developmental model set the standards for CE, while also securing a position of capital accumulation within this new model (Mah 2021;Ponte 2019).”
From Artificial intelligence in support of the circular economy: ethical considerations and a path forward (2024) · cites this paper as Ponte 2019
The lack of theoretical robustness of the CE concept could lead organisations to appropriate the term without overhauling business practices in a meaningful way.
“Perhaps, most problematically, the lack of theoretical robustness of the CE concept could lead organisations to appropriate the term without overhauling business practices in a meaningful way.”
From Artificial intelligence in support of the circular economy: ethical considerations and a path forward (2024) · cites this paper as Ponte 2019
Cited by
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Dallas, M. P., Ponte, S., & Sturgeon, T. J. (2019) · Review of International Political Economy · doi:10.1080/09692290.2019.1608284 · Cited by 320 · see citing works
Self-citationThe evolution of power in the global coffee value chain and production network
Grabs, J., & Ponte, S. (2019) · Journal of Economic Geography · doi:10.1093/jeg/lbz008 · Cited by 202 · see citing works
Self-citationFuture-Proofing Capitalism: The Paradox of the Circular Economy for Plastics
Mah, A. (2021) · Global Environmental Politics · doi:10.1162/glep_a_00594 · Cited by 177 · see citing works
Hofstetter, J. S., De Marchi, V., Sarkis, J., Govindan, K., Klassen, R., Ometto, A. R., Spraul, K. S., Bocken, N., Ashton, W. S., Sharma, S., et al. (2021) · Circular Economy and Sustainability · doi:10.1007/s43615-021-00015-2 · Cited by 174 · see citing works
Roberts, H., Zhang, J., Bariach, B., Cowls, J., Gilburt, B., Juneja, P., Tsamados, A., Ziosi, M., Taddeo, M., & Floridi, L. (2024) · AI & SOCIETY · doi:10.1007/s00146-022-01596-8 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
- Authors
- Ponte, S.
- Affiliations
- Copenhagen Business School (DK)
- Corresponding author
- Ponte, Stefano
- ORCID
- Ponte, Stefano
- Venue
- Zed Books Ltd
- Publisher
- Zed Books Ltd
- Published
- 2019
- OpenAlex
- W3015589472
- Cited by
- 229
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 38 · 2025: 52 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 8
- FWCI
- 32.58
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Zed Books Ltd (publishedVersion)
- CBS Research Portal (Copenhagen Business School) (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Global trade, sustainability, and social impact
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Sustainable Supply Chain Management
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Regulation and Compliance Studies
- Keywords
- global value chains, sustainability governance, multi-stakeholder initiatives, legitimacy, environmental upgrading, GVC upgrading, agro-food value chains, institutionalization, civil society, palm oil, biofuels, coffee, wine, fish, governance theory
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