ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that while codes of conduct seem to initially generate symbolic actions over time codes can indeed generate substantive actions. It contributes to the code of conduct literature in several important ways. The chapter responds to calls for more research into how recipients of codes respond to codes of conduct, introduces a longitudinal process perspective into the literature, and outlines a useful theoretical framework for studying these two areas based on the learning and new institutional literatures. It also contributes to the heated debate on the merits of codes of conduct by providing one of the first credible longitudinal studies of how codes affect workers' rights. Finally, the chapter demostrate to the learning literature by emphasizing that double-loop learning could lead to the preservation of inhumane production methods, and contributes to the new institutional literature by demonstrating how the recoupling of policy and practice is influenced by factors unrelated to institutional pressure.
