This brief tracks recent developments in different policy fields such as economic law, human rights and development cooperation, and corporate social responsibility. Root causes of abuses in transnational business operations are highlighted both at the top and bottom of the supply chain. There are six transnational policy channels that bear on these root causes. Recent developments therein are notable but also reveal a scarcity of coercive legal mechanisms to protect human rights. The brief cautions against a quick dismissal of such developments as ‘weak’ and instead recommends evaluating their significance based on three indicators: strength (coerciveness), depth (root causes) and tightness (interaction).
