ABSTRACT
The dominant concern in economic and commercial life at the beginning of this century seems best captured by two words: ‘market-drive’ and ‘governance’. Corporate moves towards focused production and outsourcing, governmental reforms involving privatization and deregulation, and the liberalization of trade and investments promise market-driven efficiencies albeit at the price of safeguarding such undertakings against abuse. The required coordination mechanisms – from novel supply-chain contracts and public agency agreements to international market access terms – call for regulatory approval and policy guidelines, which, in turn, are held up against the test of administrative efficiency and global regulatory competition. The question is which standard will ultimately be able to capture increasingly complex and interrelated levels of governance, facilitate efficient rule making and case assessment, and provide legal certainty to the parties involved? Will rules derive their legitimacy from the outcome of administrative and political bargaining or the need to comply with global market pressures? Or will they be based on some absolute and widely shared principles that would allow costly regulatory supervision to be delegated and even partly substituted for by self-restraints? How will this reflect on the balance between private and public control of economic life?
