An emerging consensus in the academic literature explicitly recognises large corporations as political actors. Against this background, this research investigates how corporate power operates through political practices in international multi-stakeholder governance processes and how it is legitimised. The central focus of research is the EITI, a sophisticated and well regarded international standard for natural resource governance in which corporations from the extractive industries and institutional investors have been granted decision-making rights at the Board level. Moreover, the research aims at understanding the consequences of corporate power on the Standard's design and performance. Relying on a conceptual framework based on the writings of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, this thesis proposes a refined theoretical approach to corporate power by introducing the concepts of corporate symbolic authority and corporate political practice. This research was undertaken using a mixed-methods approach consisting of content analysis, interviews and participant observation. The findings suggest that companies are privileged partners in the EITI while members from resource-rich countries are effectively disadvantaged. The companies' privileged status is legitimised through taken-for-granted-assumptions portraying them as positive, responsible and exceptional agents. It rests on possession and deployment of various forms of resources, and is enshrined into EITI's principles and procedures. Thus, despite EITI's emphasis on transparency, inclusion and equality (in decision-making), the Standard ultimately reflects and perpetuates the existing power asymmetries which cause disempowerment and poverty of people in resource-rich countries in the first place. This effectively undermines EITI's impact and outcome. In conclusion, the argument is presented that by including corporations into international governance processes already influential actors not only gain direct access to decision-making, but additionally to symbolic authority. This further enhances and consolidates corporate power with substantial consequences for legitimate and effective governance at the international level. Therefore, this thesis enhances our understanding of corporate power and its deployment in multi-stakeholder governance at the international level.

Yes / Purpose – Previous scholars have assumed that multinational enterprises (MNEs) can reduce the liability of foreignness and increase profitability by investing in corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, empirical validation of this assumption has rarely been attempted. This study provides empirical evidence that the adoption of multi-stakeholder initiatives, which are globally recognized as signals of CSR, helps MNEs increase profits from internationalization. Design/methodology/approach – Fixed effect models, which address model misspecification problems, and instrumental variable estimation, which controls for the endogeneity in firms’ choice of internationalization, offer empirical evidence supporting the moderating effects of global multi-stakeholder initiatives on the relationship between internationalization and firm performance. Findings – This study examines the moderating role of multi-stakeholder initiatives in the relationship between internationalization and firm performance, drawing on signaling and stakeholder theories. The results suggest that the signaling effect of multi-stakeholder initiatives can help MNEs overcome the liability of foreignness and, therefore, profit from overseas markets. Originality/value – Although the internationalization–firm performance relationship has been a subject of debate in the field of international business, the role of firms’ stakeholder engagement in this relationship has been largely overlooked in previous studies. In this study, we explore the impact of multi-stakeholder initiatives on the internationalization–firm performance relationship. Our primary contention is that multi-stakeholder initiatives have moderating effects on this relationship by reducing the liability of foreignness experienced by MNEs in host countries. Furthermore, our findings suggest that active engagement in multi-stakeholder initiatives significantly contributes to the financial success of MNEs as they internationalize.

There is an increasing demand for the private sector to include corporate social responsibility in their business and everyday work. This thesis has studied the corporate responsibility of firms in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden), compared with firms in 18 other OECD countries. The results are then analysed by referring to the institutional framework that firms operate in; national and international institutions. In particular, the thesis aims at examining whether there is a distinctive Nordic approach towards CSR. The Nordic countries are argued to operate in a specific national business system, influenced by the welfare state model which also impact firms’ approach towards CSR. Furthermore, the role of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) is emphasized. National institutions are, due to increased globalization and awareness of global governance gaps, increasingly challenged by international institutions. To address this issue variables are collected from the MSI UN Global Compact (UNGC) Implementation Survey from 2017, the main variable being overall CSR actions the companies take, and more specifically with regard to human rights (HR), labour rights (LR), environment (EN) and anti-corruption (AC). A simple OLS with robust standard errors was performed to define the relationship between the variables. The result show both similarities and differences between the Nordic and OECD companies, but also differences to a larger extent than expected between the Nordic countries. The main contribution of this study is thus to highlight factors that influences companies’ CSR, with possible implications for policy makers as well as managers on a national and international level. Further research should elaborate and expand the CSR actions and compare on a cross-country level instead of a Nordic and OECD level and include companies in other MSIs. / Det finns ett ökat krav på den privata sektorn att inkludera CSR (corporate social responsibility = företags samhällsansvar) i deras verksamhet och dagliga arbete. Detta arbete har studerat de nordiska ländernas (Danmark, Finland, Norge och Sverige) företags hållbarhetsarbete och jämfört med företag i 18 OECD länder. Resultatet är sedan analyserat genom att referera till vilka institutionella ramverk som företag verkar inom; nationella och internationella institutioner. Framförallt, detta arbete har studerat om det finns ett distinkt nordiskt förhållningssätt till CSR. De nordiska länderna är omtalade av att verka i en speciell nationell struktur (national business system), påverkad av välfärdsmodellen och som i sin tur påverkar förtagens förhållningssätt till CSR. Följande, vilken roll multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) har är diskuterat. De nationella institutionerna är i dagenens kontext, med ökad globalisering och medvetenhet om globala problem som kräver globala lösningar, konfronterade med internationella institutioner. För att undersöka detta hämtades variablerna från MSI UN Global Compact (UNGC) Implementation Survey 2017 och huvudvariabeln är CSR aktiviteter inom hela CSR arbetet, men framförallt inom mänskliga rättigheter (human rights, HR), arbetsrättigheter (labour rights, LR), miljö (environment, EN) och anti-korruption (anti-corruption, AC). En vanlig OLS med robust standard errors användes för att bestämma sambandet mellan variablerna. Resultatet visar både likheter och skillnader mellan de nordiska och OECD länderna, men däremot visar resultatet mer skillnader mellan de nordiska länderna än förväntat. Det viktigaste bidraget med denna studie är att uppmärksamma de faktorer som påverkar företagets CSR, med vidare rekommendationer till beslutsfattare och managers på en nationell och internationell nivå. Fortsatta studier kan utveckla CSR aktiviteterna, jämföra på en nationell nivå istället för på en nordiska och OECD nivå, samt inkludera företag från andra MSIs.