Transparent Companies? Legal Research Strategies to Understand Forced Labour in Global Supply Chains

2018 ◽  
pp. 148-166
Author(s):  
Andreas Rühmkorf
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Legal Research ◽  
Forced Labour ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Commercial Relationships

Private commercial relationships constitute significant practical challenges for researchers analysing issues of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), such as forced labour in global supply chains. The private nature of commercial relations means that freedom of information requests are not available. One way for researchers to study forced labour in global supply chains, therefore, is to use information made available by the corporations themselves. This Chapter draws on empirical legal research methods to explore the value of publicly available documents on how companies address CSR issues. It argues that, despite some limitations, it is possible to use data that is available on company websites such as codes of conduct, terms and conditions of purchase and nonfinancial reporting to assess business practices. These documents can complement both traditional doctrinal legal research of cases and statutes and research from other disciplines, thus providing new opportunities for research on forced labour in global supply chains.

scholarly journals Global Supply Chain Governance: The Search for ‘What Works’

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 63-82
Author(s):  
Andreas Rühmkorf
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Public Governance ◽  
State Legislation ◽  
Regulatory Approach ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Legislative Framework ◽  
Supply Chain Governance ◽  
Corporate Social

This article critically discusses the developing legislative framework for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in global supply chains in the ‘home states’ of transnational corporations, that is, the countries where these companies are incorporated and have their headquarters. The article focuses on the interaction of private and public governance by examining how legislation can steer companies’ use of private CSR instruments such as Codes of Conduct. Following a critical review of empirical data relating to the Supplier Codes of Conduct of the top 30 listed German companies (DAX30), recent examples of ‘home state’ legislation of CSR are assessed. The article shows that most of these laws are not very stringent. The article argues that a hybrid regulatory approach towards CSR in global supply chains is necessary.

Private Regulation of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarosh Kuruvilla
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Regulatory System ◽  
Labor Standards ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Private Regulation ◽  
Labor Conditions ◽  
Voluntary Regulation ◽  
Corporate Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Multi Stakeholder

This book examines the effectiveness of corporate social responsibility on improving labor standards in global supply chains. The book 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. The book 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 painted 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.

scholarly journals Corporate Social Responsibility in Global Supply Chains: Deeds Not Words

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3675
Author(s):  
Holger Görg ◽  
Aoife Hanley ◽  
Adnan Seric
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Ceteris Paribus ◽  
Corporate Social

The disconnect between the lofty aspirations of firms claiming Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and their shortcomings in practice have caused some observers to question its usefulness. The fallout from events like the Rana Plaza catastrophe has highlighted some of these shortcomings—namely, deficiencies in how multinational enterprises (MNEs) transact with suppliers in developing countries. Specifically, our paper aims to investigate whether or not MNEs behave hypocritically by examining the alignment of CSR to business practices in MNE affiliates in developing countries. To answer this question, we apply standard ordinary least squares (OLS) techniques to data for over 1000 MNEs that claim to have a CSR ethos. We find that CSR-active enterprises report significantly higher worker wages, ceteris paribus. Local African suppliers benefit from CSR through knowledge transfer, but only when MNEs make tangible investments in supplier development.

Causal Complexity

2021 ◽  
pp. 65-74
Author(s):  
Chunyun Li
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Private Regulation ◽  
Institutional Conditions ◽  
Incentive Effects ◽  
Regulation Model ◽  
International Conventions ◽  
Causal Complexity

This chapter examines causal complexity. The determinants of improvement in working conditions in supplier factories in global supply chains are complex. The complexity arises from the interaction between heterogeneous actors (companies, auditing firms, suppliers) following a multiplicity of practices, combined with the effect of local institutional conditions and industry and workplace context. Along with the general lack of transparency in private regulation, this combination of causal factors leads to uncertainty with respect to cause–effect relationships. The central assumption of the private regulation model is that if standards are set by codes of conduct (whether based on international conventions or local laws), and if supplier factories comply with the codes, sweatshop conditions will be avoided and improvements will be made in the lives of workers in global supply chains. But this assumption may not be warranted; buyers and brands may not have the power to force suppliers to compel compliance. And within the businesses of most global buyers and retailers, sourcing may not be sufficiently well integrated with compliance, so the incentive effects of rewarding good factories that are making improvements in compliance are not realized in practice — even though such incentives are the very basis for the model of private regulation of first-tier supplier factories.

Do Voluntary Labour Initiatives Make a Difference for the Conditions of Workers in Global Supply Chains?

2010 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 561-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela K. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Minimum Standards ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Consumer Markets ◽  
Major Shift ◽  
Buyer Power ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Market Liberalism

Since the mid-1990s a plethora of voluntary labour initiatives has been introduced in global supply chains that serve northern-based consumer markets. The chief aim of these new systems of labour governance is to establish minimum standards and conditions for workers employed in the production of goods for export. This concern for labour follows a period of market liberalism, a major shift in the regulatory position of nation-states and the globalization of business. Voluntary initiatives, which largely draw on the International Labour Organization (ILO) core conventions, include codes of conduct, certifiable standards and International Framework Agreements (IFAs). The article explores the effectiveness of these initiatives in a highly concentrated industry: the banana trade. The banana trade is dominated on the production side by three North American agri-businesses: Chiquita Brands International, Dole Food Company and Fresh Del Monte Produce. Yet these businesses are increasingly being directed by international retailers, particularly in the UK, where the four major supermarket groups command access to the consumer, and comprise Tesco, ASDA (owned by Wal-Mart), J Sainsbury and Wm Morrison Supermarkets. The continuing increase of retail buyer power within global supply chains, coupled with supermarkets’ intent to respond to demands for social responsibility in the chains that serve them, raises the prospect of better conditions for workers. However, the article argues that although some improvements have been made, while supermarkets continue to drive down costs to benefit consumers, workers ultimately pay the price.

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