2. Ambitious target setting in voluntary agreements is restricted by the confines and demands of the market. A 1998 OECD paper concluded that the ability to design effective voluntary instruments is exhausted when economic efficiency is maximized, even though society's objectives lie beyond that economic efficiency boundary.
3. Voluntary instruments lack accountability. Where corporate voluntary instruments replace government regulation and the ability of governments to set targets, they are undemocratic.
4. The use of voluntary instruments to achieve policy aims has steadily increased, while corporate accountability to society has invariable decreased. The retreat of governments from governing and the importance of protection from corporate crime pose a serious policy dilemma, given the shortfalls of voluntary instruments and the inefficiencies of government regulation.
5. Although the old fashioned "command and control' approach is indeed inadequate to govern the complex processes within society, corporate control is no replacement, since it is too limited by the dictates of the market.