A common complaint by academics and practitioners is that the application of international accountability standards (IAS) does not lead to significant improvements in an organization's social responsibility. When organizations espouse their commitment to IAS but do not put forth the effort...

Although accountability standards (e.g. the Global Reporting Initiative and SA 8000) have made their way on to the agendas of managers and researchers, a model to compare and analyze these tools in a systematic way is a conspicuous omission. This paper aims to develop such a model. First, we...

This chapter discusses the role of voluntary standards for corporate sustainability and responsibility as enablers of and impediments to sustainable consumption. We start by theoretically reflecting on the notion of standards, discussing different characteristics of this mode of regulation. Next...