Conclusion

This concluding chapter reviews the key findings and arguments of this book regarding private regulation. It also looks at other suggestions to reform and improve private regulation which are not canvassed extensively in this book. An important one is to reform the buyer–supplier contract to make the contract “work both ways” — that is, level the playing field so suppliers and workers can sue for buyer compliance. A second concerns institutionalizing unemployment insurance for supply chain workers. Meanwhile, a third suggestion is that global buyers reform their sourcing to source only from countries with good labor standards, or at a minimum, clearly indicate to those country's governments that they will stop sourcing if labor laws are not enforced. Ultimately, private regulation is not a panacea, and researchers have pointed to other steps that could improve working conditions in supply chains. For one thing, national governments need to do a better job enforcing existing labor laws; indeed, it was governments' failure to do so that gave rise to private regulation. Another step is regionalization — harmonizing national labor standards within regional trade blocs through arrangements similar to those employed by the European Union. Moreover, labor standards could be improved if the International Labour Organization (ILO) could be more forceful with its members with respect to adhering to ILO conventions.