Aseem Prakash is Professor of Political Science and the Walker Family Professor for the Arts and Sciences at University of Washington-Seattle. He serves as the General Editor of the Cambridge University Press Series on Business and Public Policy and the co-editor of Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. His most prominent contribution pertains to the club approach to the study of voluntary programs which he developed along with Matt Potoski in the context of business firms, and extended it to the context of the non-profit sector in collaboration with Mary Kay Gugerty. Outside actors do not fully know how firms or nonprofits are functioning internally. Voluntary programs are a signaling mechanisms to convey this information to outside actors in a credible way. Because participation in such programs in costly, participants need to get something in return. The club approach suggests that club membership allows members to appropriate certain benefits which are non-rival and excludable (i.e., have the characteristics of club goods). These can pertain to reputation, goodwill, access to capital, regulatory relief, etc. Given that voluntary programs tend to have varying levels of effectiveness, the club approach helps to predict ex ante how program design affects program efficacy.

His other prominent contribution pertains to the role of trade and FDI networks in influencing regulatory races in areas such as human rights, labor rights, environmental policies.

Aseem Prakash has written and edited several books and articles on the subjects of corporate environmentalism, NGOs, and globalization.

As author

• Greening the Firm: The Politics of Corporate Environmentalism (Cambridge University Press
  Cambridge University Press
  Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
  
  , 2000, ISBN 9780521664875)
• The Voluntary Environmentalists: Green Clubs, ISO 14001, and Voluntary Regulations (Cambridge University Press
  Cambridge University Press
  Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
  
  , 2006, ISBN 9780521860413) (with Matthew Potoski)

As co-editor

• Accountability Clubs: Voluntary Regulation of Nongovernmental and Nonprofit Organizations (Cambridge University Press, 2010) (with Mary Kay Gugerty)

• Advocacy Organizations and Collective Action (Cambridge University Press, 2010) (with Mary Kay Gugerty)

• Voluntary Programs: A Club Theory Perspective (The MIT Press, 2009) (with Matt Potoski)

• Coping with Globalization (Routledge, 2000) (with Jeffrey Hart)

• Responding to Globalization (Routledge, 2000) (with Jeffrey Hart)

• Globalization and Governance (Routledge, 1999) (with Jeffrey Hart)

Key Journal Articles

• Trade Competition and Domestic Pollution: A Panel Study, 1980‐2003.International Organization, 2010 (with Xun Cao)

• Growing Exports by Signaling Product Quality: Trade Competition and the Cross‐National Diffusion of ISO 9000 Quality Standards. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2010 (with Xun Cao)

• Media Independence and Trust in NGOs: The Case of Post‐Communist Eurasia. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 2010 (with Taedong Lee and Erica Johnson)

• Trade and Labor Rights: A Panel Study, 1986‐2002. American Political Science Review, 2009 (with Brian Greenhill & Layna Mosley)

• Investing Up: FDI and the Cross‐National Diffusion of ISO 14001. International Studies Quarterly,2007 (with Matthew Potoski)

• Protecting Jobs in the Age of Globalization: Examining the Relative Salience of Social Welfare and Industrial Subsidies in OECD Countries. International Studies Quarterly, 2007 (with Xun Cao and Michael D. Ward)

• Racing to the Bottom? Globalization, Environmental Governance, and ISO 14001. American Journal of Political Science, 2006 (with Matthew Potoski)

• Green Clubs and Voluntary Governance: ISO 14001 and Firms' Regulatory Compliance. American Journal of Political Science, 2005 (with Matthew Potoski)

• Covenants with Weak Swords: ISO 14001 and Firms' Environmental Performance. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2005 (with Matthew Potoski)

• Using Ideas Strategically: Examining the Contest between Business and NGO Networks in Intellectual Property Rights. International Studies Quarterly, 2004 (with Susan Sell)

• The Regulation Dilemma: Cooperation and Conflict in Environmental Governance. Public Administration Review, 2004 (with Matthew Potoski)

• Green by Choice? Cross‐National Variations in Firms' Responses to EMS‐based Environmental Regimes. World Politics, 2001 (with Kelly Kollman)

• Responsible Care: An Assessment. Business & Society, 2000.

External links