The way government could create a framework for corporate citizenship was the subject of a study by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) for the World Bank. Published in November, it underscored the fact that actions taken by the public sector could positively support businesses' overall contributions to sustainable development. The study demonstrated a need to go beyond problematic voluntary-regulatory distinctions when considering corporate citizenship, and explore the dynamic relationship between voluntary approaches and regulation.

The study suggested that the public sector currently encourages responsible business practices through one or more of four key roles - mandating, facilitating, partnering, and endorsing. However, the report noted that 'developing' country governments are often constrained in their ability to respond to increasing pressures for corporate citizenship related legislation and enforcement. Weak institutions, lack of knowledge and understanding, lack of financial and human resources, and lack of capacity to maintain standards are some of the main impediments to stronger encouragement of corporate citizenship by the public sector in the global South.

That a new suite of government measures to support corporate citizenship and sustainable development may be required, makes a report for the World Tourism Organisation on the implications of multi-lateral trade agreements particularly pertinent. 38 This suggested that governments could be negotiating away their future capacity to intervene in the market for sustainable development through the current round on the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The authors suggested that a variety of government measures aimed at promoting corporate citizenship could, in future, be challenged by some interpretations of the GATS. That the new round of trade liberalisation talks under GATS has been driven by corporate lobbying brings us back, once again, to questions about the congruence of corporate citizenship and corporate lobbying. The political bottom line of business is a complex one, but one thing is certain - it will have to be addressed by practitioners and researchers in this field.

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