AbstractThis article develops a micro-level theoretical perspective of business influence in international negotiations. By drawing on organizational institutional theory, the article proposes that site-specific institutionalized norms can structure the nature and extent of business power. The article illustrates the value of this perspective through an illustrative case study of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) through interviews and participant observation of on-site dynamics during negotiations on environmental shipping regulation. The article shows how, in the case of the IMO, specific institutionalized norms and beliefs structure private actors’ possible influence and their claims to authority. In particular, strongly held beliefs about the nature of political deliberation in the IMO both constrain and enable business interests, sometimes overriding the general structural power of the shipping industry. This research implies that future scholarship of business power and lobbying should be attentive to specific institutionalized ideas structuring business actors’ range of legitimate activities, in particular in international institutions where individual negotiation sites can develop idiosyncratic norms and beliefs about the legitimacy of private actor participation.

中文翻译：

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导航规范和无形规则：解释国际航运监管中的商业影响力案例

摘要本文从微观层面的国际谈判中商业影响力的理论视角展开。通过借鉴组织制度理论，文章提出特定场所的制度化规范可以构建企业权力的性质和范围。本文通过对国际海事组织 (IMO) 的说明性案例研究，通过访谈和参与观察环境航运监管谈判期间的现场动态，说明了这一观点的价值。本文展示了在国际海事组织的案例中，具体的制度化规范和信仰如何构建私人行为者的可能影响力及其对权威的要求。特别是，对国际海事组织政治审议性质的坚定信念既限制又促成商业利益，有时会压倒航运业的总体结构力量。这项研究表明，未来对商业权力和游说的研究应该关注构建商业参与者合法活动范围的具体制度化思想，特别是在国际机构中，个别谈判场所可以发展出关于私人参与者参与合法性的特殊规范和信念。