Private Regulation of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains: Problems, Progress, and Prospects

Description

Private Regulation of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains examines the effectiveness of corporate social responsibility on improving labor standards in global supply chains. Sarosh Kuruvilla charts the development and effectiveness of corporate codes of conduct to ameliorate "sweatshop" conditions in global supply chains. This form of private voluntary regulation, spearheaded by Nike and Reebok, became necessary given the inability of third world countries to enforce their own laws and the absence of a global regulatory system for labor standards. Although private regulation programs have been adopted by other companies in many different industries, we know relatively little regarding the effectiveness of these programs because companies don't disclose information about their efforts and outcomes in regulating labor conditions in their supply chains. Private Regulation of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains presents data from companies, multi-stakeholder institutions, and auditing firms in a comprehensive, investigative dive into the world of private voluntary regulation of labor conditions. The picture he paints is wholistic and raw, but it considers several ways in which this private voluntary system can be improved to improve the lives of workers in global supply chains. Private Regulation of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains Contents Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Private Regulation of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains since the 1990s Part 1. Overview: Problems 1. Behavioral Invisibility: The Reliability of Supplier Data and the Unique Role of Audit Consultants, with Ning Li 2. Practice Multiplicity in the Implementation of Private Regulation Programs 3. Causal Complexity: The Varied Determinants of Compliance and Workplace-Level Improvements, with Chunyun Li Part 2. Overview: Progress 4. Has Private Regulation Improved Labor Practices in Global Supply Chains?: An Empirical Examination, with Jinsun Bae 5. Wages in Global Supply Chains: Where They Stand and Where We Need to Go, with Jinsun Bae 6. Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining in Global Supply Chains, with Matt Fischer-Daly and Christopher Raymond Part 3. Overview: Prospects 7. Are Changes in Corporate Governance an Answer?, with Matt Fischer-Daly 8. Aligning Sourcing and Compliance Inside a Global Corporation 9. From Opacity to Transparency: Pathways to Improvement of Private Regulation Conclusion Appendix A: Prior Research on the Determinants of Compliance Appendix B: B Lab Benefit Impact Assessment Questions about Supplier Labor Standards Notes Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y