Meet the members of the Erasmus Research Platform on Sustainable Business & Human Rights.
In her doctoral research, she focused in particular on the role and impact of ‘foreign direct liability claims’: transnational civil liability claims against multinational corporations for the detrimental impacts of their activities on people and planet in host countries. Since then, her research focus has broadened to a comparative and multidisciplinary study of the ways in which different legal and non-legal regulatory instruments may be combined in order to effectively promote responsible business conduct in global value chains and, in the end, a more equal distribution of the costs and the benefits associated with international business activities.
He is co-founder of the department of Business-Society Management, one of the leading departments in the world studying and teaching about the contribution of business and leaders towards society. For more than ten years he worked together with UNCTAD to compile the annual list of the ‘world’s largest TNCs’ (Published in the World Investment Report).
It is interdisciplinary in that effectiveness is not determined by legal aspects in themselves but also by the governance and economic effects of these initiatives. Because a comprehensive global approach that is effectively enforced by governments seems to be remote, these multi-stakeholder initiatives may be the best way forward for the near future, provided they are effective. In connection with this he also researches new IT-technology, like block chain and AI, to enhance (transparency on) human rights compliance by business. His academic work includes over 100 academic publications.
As a research associate to the Special Chair on International Business and Human Rights (RSM), she focused on (pro)active human rights approaches in the financial sector, conducting projects at the Dutch Development Bank FMO and the Fair Bank Guide, and organizing expert meetings for General Counsels and CSR managers.