Seminario di Katharina Spraul

06.04.2017

Harvesting Sustainability in the German Wine Industry: the Regulation-self-regulation Interplay

Seminario di Katharina Spraul, Technischen Universität Kaiserslautern.

To shed more light on the complex interplay among sustainability regulations and self-regulation, the paper focuses on a highly regulated field: the German wine industry. In addition to identifying key actors (e.g., associations, regulatory institutions) that need to be addressed to ensure the enforcement of sustainability, using a social network analysis, this study outlines the key actors’ organizational characteristics and their interactions, according to semi-structured interviews. These mixed methods and in-depth analyses reveal that self-regulation by key actors has a crucial role in terms of enhancing sustainability, yet regulation remains an important trigger in this context. This paper concludes with some lessons for regulation and self-regulation policies that can ensure more positive impacts on sustainability within an organizational field.