Sander Quak | Erasmus University Rotterdam (original) (raw)

Papers by Sander Quak

The Transformation of Solidarity

ABSTRACT Social risks can be managed in different ways. The management of social risks is commonl... more ABSTRACT Social risks can be managed in different ways. The management of social risks is commonly discussed in relationship to welfare state institutions or, in a less common approach, in relation to the protection corporatist institutions provide through collective bargaining, as presented in the previous chapter. However, one of the central institutions active in risk management, alongside the family, is the firm. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, firms took (some) responsibility for the well-being of their employees. In some welfare states, for example in the US, firms still play an important role in managing social risks, hence the term ‘corporate welfare state’, sometimes used to describe the US welfare state. In this chapter we focus on the essential function private corporations fulfill in the way social risks are defined and dealt with collectively. It is important to investigate the role of private corporations in the management of social risks because firms become increasingly important in an era of economic globalisation. As markets open up and national states weaken, private corporations have more freedom to act. As companies become geographically and institutionally ‘footloose’, a process in the direction of reduced protection takes place, often called a ‘race to the bottom’ in the direction of diminished corporate responsibility for employees, resulting in a shift of responsibilities from employers to employees.

Business and Politics, 2018

As a case study in the proliferation of global rankings, we examine the initiation, construction ... more As a case study in the proliferation of global rankings, we examine the initiation, construction of, and response to the Access to Medicine Index, which ranks pharmaceutical companies according to their respective contribution to access to medicine for developing countries. Since it has served as the model for constructing global rankings in the fields of nutrition, seeds, mining, possibly in the future, oil, seafood, mobile internet, and agricultural commodities, and it serves as a blueprint for the development of corporate sustainability benchmarks in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, its significance goes well beyond public health. From an economic-sociological perspective we argue, first, that rankings can be conceived as symbolic classifications that serve predominantly as market-based coordination devices. To understand the proliferation of global rankings, we argue, secondly, that they are an integral part of the changing balance of power in the doma...

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2016

Since the 1990s the vaccine sector is experiencing a profound restructuring with the entrance of ... more Since the 1990s the vaccine sector is experiencing a profound restructuring with the entrance of innovative biotech companies, developing country manufacturers, and wealthy private foundations. Since these developments and their consequences are rarely analysed in their interconnectedness, we argue, first, that a field approach focusing on the interrelations between the organisations in the vaccine sector is a fruitful way to unravel the complexities of the current changes. Second, a long-term historical-sociological analysis of this field is presented since the discovery of the smallpox vaccine around 1800. The current changes are interpreted as the third transformation of the field. After the shift from local to national vaccine fields, and then to an internationally coordinated field, the recent changes can be characterised as a shift to a more encompassing, diversified global field. These historical transformations can be explained by changing balances of power between the organisations with an interest in the field.

Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 2014

ABSTRACT Sustainable investing (SI) experienced three phases in the Netherlands from the 1960s un... more ABSTRACT Sustainable investing (SI) experienced three phases in the Netherlands from the 1960s until present. In the 1960s a small niche market emerged against the background of growing environmental concerns and debates on the responsibility of the Western world for developing countries. This niche market was populated by ‘ethical’ investors ‘earmarking’ their investments for promoting specific social or environmental causes. The burst of the dot-com bubble and financial scandals in the early 2000s resulted in the partial deligitimization of financial practices. With the development of global guidelines for sustainable businesses and investors this resulted in a changing context for the financial sector which needed to restore its economic and moral legitimacy. Large retail banks began offering sustainable investment funds while the vanguard of the institutional investors started to rethink their shareholder responsibility and experimented with SI-methods. This second phase, which meant a redefinition from ethical to responsible investing, lasted until 2007. A documentary on investments by, especially, pension funds in companies producing controversial weapons kicked off the third phase. This was around the start of the recent financial and economic crisis, which made people lose confidence in the financial sector on a much larger scale and question financial markets’ legitimacy. This investment scandal triggered institutional investors to incorporate environmental, social and governance considerations. This is justified by claiming that integrating sustainability issues into their investment decisions helps to better manage the risks associated with investing, thereby relating to the standard investment model of risk adjusted returns and resulting in a redefinition from responsible to sustainable investing. As a result, SI seems in the process of becoming mainstream.

Theory and Society, 2013

ABSTRACT The shareholder value conception of the firm and its consequences for the functioning of... more ABSTRACT The shareholder value conception of the firm and its consequences for the functioning of corporations have been studied from a variety of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives. In this article we examine in more detail than has been done sofar the origins and early adoption of this particular conception. By investigating public business sources from the perspective of field theory, we argue that the rise and early diffusion of “shareholder value” are best understood as a function of the changing power relations in the economic field during the first half of the 1980s. The deep economic recession at the end of the 1970s and early 1980s led to a crisis in the prevailing management beliefs, offering newcomers the opportunity to promote alternative business strategies, among which the shareholder value conception became dominant. The sources studied indicate that the spokespersons of the new business conception were initially wealthy outsiders, corporate “raiders,” who used the economic crisis to oppose management and acquire shares in undervalued firms with the threat of restructuring and selling parts of them in the name of shareholders’ interests. Although these hostile take-overs, or threats of take-overs, were widely contested, the Reagan administration blocked regulation and stimulated the take-over market. The rivalry between “raiders” and public pension funds over the profits of these takeovers led to the founding the Council of Institutional Investors (1985), which adopted the shareholder value doctrine inaugurating the organized activism of public pension funds with regard to the management of firms. It was thus in all likelihood the competition and conflict among different groups of shareholders, primarily corporate raiders and pension funds, that triggered the shift in the balance of power between managers and shareholders. Since managers found profitable ways to adapt to the new balance of power, the shareholder value ideology spread rapidly through the economic field, becoming the dominant business model of North American firms in the second half of the 1980s.

Business and Politics, 2012

Since the 1970s many firms expanded their operations across national borders and were restructure... more Since the 1970s many firms expanded their operations across national borders and were restructured to fit the changing economic conditions during these times of economic globalization. Using a sociological approach to transnational firms, in this article the authors research the consequences of these developments for the responsibility of two transnational firms towards their employees in the Netherlands. These firms experienced a shift in their dual embeddedness in national and transnational economic fields, with the latter gaining importance. In response, they adjusted their corporate policies and structure to fit the competitive conditions of these fields, causing a centralization of their corporate labor policy on the transnational level, the polarization of this policy and the instrumentalization of labor and labor policy. This also meant that their responsibility for their employees was restructured and reduced.

Since the 1970s many firms expanded their operations across national borders and were restructure... more Since the 1970s many firms expanded their operations across national borders and were restructured to fit the changing economic conditions during these times of economic globalization. Using a sociological approach to trans- national firms, in this article the authors research the consequences of these developments for the responsibility of two transnational firms towards their employees in the Netherlands. These firms experienced a shift in their dual embeddedness in national and transnational economic fields, with the latter gaining importance. In response, they adjusted their corporate policies and structure to fit the competitive conditions of these fields, causing a centrali- zation of their corporate labor policy on the transnational level, the polariza- tion of this policy and the instrumentalization of labor and labor policy. This also meant that their responsibility for their employees was restructured and reduced.

Tijdschrift voor gezondheidswetenschappen, 2016

Al enige decennia tekent zich een verschuiving af van infectieziekten naar chronische ziekten. Do... more Al enige decennia tekent zich een verschuiving af van infectieziekten naar chronische ziekten. Door de toename van chronische ziekten leven steeds meer Nederlanders een toenemend aantal jaren in slechte gezondheid en stijgen de ziektekosten. De inzet op primaire preventie wordt onder experts dan ook noodzakelijk geacht. Uit een rondgang langs deskundigen en betrokkenen, aangevuld met beleidsdocumentatie, blijkt dat dit op drie obstakels stuit: (1) door de complexiteit van chronische ziekten zijn de huidige behandel- en preventiemethoden ontoereikend; (2) door de lange termijn waarop deze ziekten zich voordoen zijn korte termijn resultaten moeilijk te behalen en neemt niemand de verantwoordelijkheid voor de ontwikkeling van maatregelen voor primaire preventie; en (3) de kosten voor de ontwikkeling hiervan kunnen niet door één partij worden gedragen. Om deze barrières te overwinnen moeten de betrokken partijen (overheid, academische onderzoekscentra, gezondheidsorganisaties, zorgprofessionals, zorgverzekeraars, patiëntenorganisaties, filantropische instellingen, werkgevers en private ondernemingen) gezamenlijk zoeken naar nieuwe interventie- en financieringsmogelijkheden. De voornaamste voorwaarde hiervoor is een verschuiving in de perceptie van ‘ziekte en zorg’ naar ‘gezondheid en preventie’ met daarbij oog voor de patiënt in zijn/haar omgeving (‘mens en maatschappij’). Interdisciplinair onderzoek zal daarbij onmisbaar zijn.

Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 2014

Sustainable investing (SI) experienced three phases in the Netherlands from the 1960s until the p... more Sustainable investing (SI) experienced three phases in the Netherlands from the 1960s until the present. In the 1960s a small niche market emerged against a background of growing environmental concerns and debates on Western countries' responsibility for developing countries. This niche market was populated by 'ethical' investors 'earmarking' their investments for promoting specific social or environmental causes. The burst of the dot-com bubble and financial scandals in the early 2000s resulted in the partial deligitimization of financial practices. With the development of global SI guidelines this resulted in a changing context for the financial sector which needed to restore its economic and moral legitimacy. Large retail banks began offering SI funds while the vanguard of the institutional investors started to rethink their shareholder responsibility and experimented with SI methods. This second phase, which meant a redefinition from ethical to responsible investing, lasted until 2007. A documentary on investments by, especially, pension funds in companies producing controversial weapons kicked off the third phase. This was around the start of the recent financial and economic crisis, which made people lose confidence in the financial sector on a much larger scale and question financial markets' legitimacy. This investment scandal triggered institutional investors to incorporate environmental, social, and governance considerations. This is justified by claiming that integrating sustainability issues helps to better manage investment risks, thereby reflecting the standard investment model of riskadjusted returns and resulting in a redefinition from responsible investing to SI. As a result, SI seems to be in the process of becoming mainstream.

business and politics, 2019

As a case study in the proliferation of global rankings, this article examines the initiation, co... more As a case study in the proliferation of global rankings, this article examines the initiation, construction of, and response to the Access to Medicine Index, which ranks pharmaceutical companies according to their respective contribution to access to medicine for developing countries. Since it has served as the model for constructing global rankings in the fields of nutrition, seeds, and, possibly in the future, mining and oil, its significance goes well beyond public health. We argue, first, that rankings can be conceived as symbolic classifications that serve predominantly as market based coordination devices. To understand the proliferation of global rankings, we argue, secondly, that they are an integral part of a changing balance of power in the field of global public health consisting of a shift from international organizations as the central mode of governance and coordination to more decentralized and diversified global fields. These global fields are formed by an increasing number and variety of actors, but typically lack a central decision making body. The case of the Access to Medicine Index exemplifies, more broadly, that a historical-sociological field perspective has analytical advantages over the micro analysis of socio-technical devices and purely macro approaches to governance and contemporary market economies.

Since the 1990s the vaccine sector is experiencing a profound restructuring with the entrance of ... more Since the 1990s the vaccine sector is experiencing a profound restructuring with the entrance of innovative biotech companies, developing country manufacturers, and wealthy private foundations. Since these developments and their consequences are rarely analysed in their interconnectedness, we argue, first, that a field approach focusing on the interrelations between the organisations in the vaccine sector is a fruitful way to unravel the complexities of the current changes. Second, a long-term historical-sociological analysis of this field is presented since the discovery of the smallpox vaccine around 1800. The current changes are interpreted as the third transformation of the field. After the shift from local to national vaccine fields, and then to an internationally coordinated field, the recent changes can be characterized as a shift to a more encompassing, diversified global field. These historical transformations can be explained by changing balances of power between the organisations with an interest in the field.

Theory & Society, 43 (1): 1-22, Jan 2014

The shareholder value conception of the firm and its consequences for the functioning of corporat... more The shareholder value conception of the firm and its consequences for the functioning of corporations have been studied from a variety of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives. In this article we examine in more detail than has been done sofar the origins and early adoption of this particular conception. By investigating public business sources from the perspective of field theory, we argue that the rise and early diffusion of “shareholder value” are best understood as a function of the changing power relations in the economic field during the first half of the 1980s. The deep economic recession at the end of the 1970s and early 1980s led to a crisis in the prevailing management beliefs, offering newcomers the opportunity to promote alternative business strategies, among which the shareholder value conception became dominant. The sources studied indicate that the spokespersons of the new business conception were initially wealthy outsiders, corporate “raiders,” who used the economic crisis to oppose management and acquire shares in undervalued firms with the threat of restructuring and selling parts of them in the name of shareholders’ interests. Although these hostile take-overs, or threats of take-overs, were widely contested, the Reagan administration blocked regulation and stimulated the take-over market. The rivalry between “raiders” and public pension funds over the profits of these takeovers led to the founding the Council of Institutional Investors (1985), which adopted the shareholder value doctrine inaugurating the organized activism of public pension funds with regard to the management of firms. It was thus in all likelihood the competition and conflict among different groups of shareholders, primarily corporate raiders and pension funds, that triggered the shift in the balance of power between managers and shareholders. Since managers found profitable ways to adapt to the new balance of power, the shareholder value ideology spread rapidly through the economic field, becoming the dominant business model of North American firms in the second half of the 1980s.

Business & Politics, 14 (3): 1-21, 2012

"In the last quarter of the 20th century, many firms significantly expanded their operations acro... more "In the last quarter of the 20th century, many firms significantly expanded their operations across national borders. It has been argued that, as a result, they have become disembedded from the national economic fields in which they conduct their business and have experienced a race to the bottom in their corporate labor policy. In this dissertation Sander Quak argues that this contention does not accurately describe the recent development of transnational firms and their corporate labor policy. Rather, transnational firms experienced a significant shift in their dual embeddedness in national and transnational economic fields. They were restructured in line with the competitive conditions in the transnational economic field, but the competitive conditions in the national economic fields continue to be of great importance for their corporate labor policy. Consequently, the recent development of their corporate labor policy is characterized by processes of centralization, instrumentalization, and polarization.
"

Romke van der Veen, Mara Yerkes, Peter Achterberg (eds), The Transformation of Solidarity: Changing Risks and the Future of the Welfare State, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2012, pp. 139-163., 2012

Social risks can be managed in different ways. The management of social risks is commonly discuss... more Social risks can be managed in different ways. The management of social risks is commonly discussed in relationship to welfare state institutions or, in a less common approach, in relation to the protection corporatist institutions provide through collective bargaining, as presented in the previous chapter. However, one of the central institutions active in risk management, alongside the family, is the firm. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, firms took (some) responsibility for the well-being of their employees. In some welfare states, for example in the US, firms still play an important role in managing social risks, hence the term ‘corporate welfare state’, sometimes used to describe the US welfare state.
In this chapter we focus on the essential function private corporations fulfil in the way social risks are defined and dealt with collectively. It is important to investigate the role of private corporations in the management of social risks because firms become increasingly important in an era of economic globalisation. As markets open up and national states weaken, private corporations have more freedom to act. As companies become geographically and institutionally ‘footloose’, a process in the direction of reduced protection takes place, often called a ‘race to the bottom’ (Mishra 1999; Castles 2004) in the direction of diminished corporate responsibility for employees, resulting in a shift of responsibilities from employers to employees (Hacker 2006).
In this chapter, we investigate the development of labour policies in two transnational corporations. We learn that due to the fact that these corporations are embedded in different national and transnational economic fields, the extent to which corporate responsibility for protection against social risks is diminishing varies from risk to risk, and that a polarisation is taking place in corporate responsibility between the responsibility taken for higher management and responsibility taken for lower levels of personnel.

The Transformation of Solidarity

Business and Politics, 2018

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2016

Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 2014

Theory and Society, 2013

Business and Politics, 2012

Since the 1970s many firms expanded their operations across national borders and were restructure... more Since the 1970s many firms expanded their operations across national borders and were restructured to fit the changing economic conditions during these times of economic globalization. Using a sociological approach to trans- national firms, in this article the authors research the consequences of these developments for the responsibility of two transnational firms towards their employees in the Netherlands. These firms experienced a shift in their dual embeddedness in national and transnational economic fields, with the latter gaining importance. In response, they adjusted their corporate policies and structure to fit the competitive conditions of these fields, causing a centrali- zation of their corporate labor policy on the transnational level, the polariza- tion of this policy and the instrumentalization of labor and labor policy. This also meant that their responsibility for their employees was restructured and reduced.

Tijdschrift voor gezondheidswetenschappen, 2016

Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 2014

business and politics, 2019

Since the 1990s the vaccine sector is experiencing a profound restructuring with the entrance of ... more Since the 1990s the vaccine sector is experiencing a profound restructuring with the entrance of innovative biotech companies, developing country manufacturers, and wealthy private foundations. Since these developments and their consequences are rarely analysed in their interconnectedness, we argue, first, that a field approach focusing on the interrelations between the organisations in the vaccine sector is a fruitful way to unravel the complexities of the current changes. Second, a long-term historical-sociological analysis of this field is presented since the discovery of the smallpox vaccine around 1800. The current changes are interpreted as the third transformation of the field. After the shift from local to national vaccine fields, and then to an internationally coordinated field, the recent changes can be characterized as a shift to a more encompassing, diversified global field. These historical transformations can be explained by changing balances of power between the organisations with an interest in the field.

Theory & Society, 43 (1): 1-22, Jan 2014

Business & Politics, 14 (3): 1-21, 2012