International Trade Organisations as Institutional Drivers of Corporate Sustainability in Emerging Economies: A Comprehensive Review and Integrative Framework
Authors:
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Journal: Multidisciplinary International Research Journal
Abstract
The growing integration of sustainability standards into international trade governance
has transformed international trade organisations (ITOs) from purely economic facilitators
into powerful institutional actors shaping corporate environmental, social, and gover-
nance (ESG) behaviour. Despite the proliferation of trade-linked sustainability provisions—
including the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the Corporate Sustain-
ability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), and sustainability chapters in regional frameworks
such as RCEP—understanding of how these mechanisms influence firm-level practices in
emerging economies remains fragmented. This review synthesises the extant literature at
the intersection of international trade governance, institutional theory, stakeholder theory,
and corporate sustainability to develop an integrative framework for understanding how
ITOs drive ESG adoption, with particular emphasis on China. Through a structured narra-
tive methodology with PRISMA-informed screening, we identify three principal transmission
mechanisms: coercive regulatory pressure, normative stakeholder amplification through
global value chains, and mimetic organisational learning. We delineate critical moderat-
ing factors—including regional institutional development, firm size, ownership structure,
sectoral trade intensity, and government regulatory support—and theorise boundary condi-
tions under which mechanisms reinforce, conflict with, or substitute for one another under
institutional complexity. The review exposes significant gaps, notably insufficient firm-level
empirical evidence and limited attention to organisational engagement as a mediating
pathway. We propose an integrative conceptual model with testable propositions and
a structured research agenda, contributing to international management scholarship by
connecting macro-level trade governance with micro-level organisational behaviour.
Keywords: international trade organisations, ESG, nstitutional theory, institutional complexity, stakeholder theory, global value chains, corporate sustainability, emerging economies, China, trade governance