Governing Interests: Business Associations Facing Internationalization

In the present period of globalization Governing Interests presents new research on the impact of internationalization on the organization and representation of business interests through trade and employer associations. By exploring ongoing, gradual but nevertheless profound changes in the structures and functions of business interest associations, the book develops a more precise understanding of the relationship between the national and the international. Focusing on national business associations and the ways they are adjusting to the changing composition and interests of their membership, and to the shift in functions of economic governance to levels above the nation state, the essays in this volume cover a selection of OECD countries, paying special attention to Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden. Unlike much of the current top-down research on European integration, the volume contains both theoretical and empirical papers studying internationalization from the bottom-up, adopting the perspective of national actors facing new challenges and opportunities in their international environment.1 Introduction: business associations, associative order and internationalization Volker Schneider and Jürgen R. Grote Part I Nations 2 Reaching out and fitting in: Dutch business associations at home (and) in Europe Jelle Visser and Arnold Wilts 3 Institutional filters and path dependency: the impact of Europeanization an Swiss business associations Hanspeter Kriesi 4 Globalization and Swedish business interest associations in the twenty-first century Victor A. Pestoff 5 Economic internationalization and the organizational dilemma of employer associations: a comparison of 20 OECD countries Franz Traxler Part II Sectors 6 Organizations and networks in a globalizing economy: British and German chemical interest associations Jürgen R. Grote and Volker Schneider 7 Against all odds: adaptation and survival of national associations Dirk Lehmkuhl 8 National business associations and European integration: the case of the financial sector Pieter Bouwen Part III International systems 9 Global public policy, associative orders and business interest associations William D. Coleman 10 International governance by organized business: the shifting roles of firms, associations and intergovernmental organizations in self-regulation Karsten Ronit 11 Conclusions: organized business facing internationalization Wolfgang Streeck and Jelle Visse