ABSTRACT
A large number of multistakeholder initiatives (MSIs) have emerged in the last two decades against the background of international economic liberalization, the privatization of state-owned companies and the deregulation of national economies. At a time when the state's role in regulating the economies of developing countries is being reduced, MSIs have become an important instrument through which work conditions in the export industries of developing countries are regulated (Utting and Zammit 2009). In practice, MSIs have often concentrated on the development and implementation of joint codes of conduct and common monitoring procedures. However, MSIs differ from individual or collective industry-based corporate social responsibility (CSR) standards that are formulated and monitored by individual firms or collective industry associations, as MSIs involve a wider range of actors such as trade unions, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and national/international organizations (Tallontire 2007).
