This paper attempts to point out the shortcomings of mainstream regional integration theory: neorealism and neoliberal institutionalism. The 1999-2001 Mercosur crisis is chosen as a tour de force for regionalist theories. The “redefinition” of South American integration process during the following years shows the necessity to introduce complementary approaches focused on ideational factors –id...

This paper is concerned with why and how multinational companies (MNCs) voluntarily engage in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), especially in social standards. The first part describes the prevailing perspectives on the CSR debate. Then, with the New Institutionalism in Sociology, an alternative view on CSR is discussed. The third part develops the argument that the ‘traditional’ rational ...

Abstract Using historical institutionalism as a theoretical foundation, this paper explores whether multilateral surveillance and policy coordination under the European Semester (ES), introduced in aftermath of global financial crisis 2007–2008, was based on path-changing or path-dependent mechanism. Following legal-historical analysis going back to Maastricht Treaty, we demonstrate that ES its...