Status Quo Analysis - Textile Sector

3.1. Understanding Chemical Traceability Through Multiple Analytical Lenses

Chemical traceability in the textile industry demands analysis through multiple theoretical lenses to capture its complexity. Nine distinct frameworks reveal the interplay between market dynamics, organisational behavior, and institutional structures in shaping traceability implementation and outcomes.

The Comparative Economic Systems framework (Hurwicz, 1979) examines how market structures influence information sharing in decentralised systems, particularly relevant when chemical manufacturers possess detailed knowledge but may lack transparency incentives. Swiss's Results-Based Management framework (Swiss, 2005) emphasises timing and political context, highlighting how program success depends on balancing immediate implementation costs against long-term benefits.

The Multiple Incentive System framework (Paulson, 1981) reveals why technical solutions often fail without addressing underlying social and economic conditions, while the Institutional Economics framework (Bertone and Meessen, 2013) explains how formal and informal institutions affect system performance across different contexts.

Contemporary research is expanding this and proposing innovative approaches to address the stakeholder dynamics. Evolutionary Game Theory (Fan and Hui, 2020), (Zhou et al., 2019) models how stakeholders adapt their strategies over time, demonstrating that dynamic policies targeting multiple stakeholders achieve more stable outcomes than static interventions. The Institutional Perspective integration with this approach (Zhou et al., 2022) further reveals how organisational structures influence cooperation patterns and sustainability outcomes.

Principal-Agent Theory (Wang and Song, 2021) specifically addresses information asymmetry challenges by guiding the design of incentive systems that will potentially motivate accurate information sharing between suppliers and brands. Complementing this, the Comparative Analysis of Game Structures framework (Nielsen et al., 2019) and the Systems-based framework (da Costa Junior et al., 2019) takes a broader view, examining how different incentive policies and procurement decisions affect social welfare and environmental outcomes across the supply chain. This approach has revealed that traceability outcomes are highly sensitive to the underlying game structure, suggesting that policy design must carefully consider how different stakeholders interact and compete within the system.

This multi-framework analysis demonstrates that successful chemical traceability requires a holistic approach. Effective implementation must address technical and socio-economic factors while considering institutional contexts and stakeholder incentives. The key lies in creating systems that align stakeholder interests, manage information asymmetries, and adapt to the evolving market conditions.

Moving from theoretical frameworks to practical application, the textile industry's market structure presents several key challenges for traceability implementation.