Economic liberalisation, market institutions and labour rights

Abstract

What effect do pro‐market economic policies have on labour rights? Despite significant debate in policy and academic circles about the consequences of economic liberalisation, little is known about the labour rights effects of pro‐market policies. Extant literature has focused only on the possible outcomes of market‐liberalising policies, such as trade and investment flows, rather than directly assessing market‐friendly policies and institutions. Moreover, this line of research has found mixed results on how these outcomes influence labour conditions. To provide a comprehensive assessment of this linkage, this article combines data on five distinct policy areas associated with economic liberalisation with data on labour rights for the period 1981–2012. The results indicate that pro‐market policies – except the ones involving rule of law and secure property rights – undermine labour rights. Thus while there are some positive economic and political outcomes associated with market‐supporting policies, economic liberalisation comes at the cost of respect for labour rights.

The political economy of labor market deregulation during IMF interventions

“…In sum, our study contributes to long-standing scholarship on the links between globalized free markets and socio-economic rights (Blanton, Blanton, and Peksen 2015;Blanton and Peksen 2016;Mosley and Uno 2007). First, while scholars have long examined the effects of globalization on economic policies, particularly domestic labor standards (Huber and Stephens 2001;Mosley and Uno 2007;Neumayer and De Soysa 2006;Rudra 2008), they have only recently become interested in the conditions of policy (non-)convergence (Avelino, Brown, and Hunter 2005;Mosley 2008;Neilson and Stubbs 2016;Rudra and Haggard 2005).…”

Pro‐Market Policies and Major Industrial Disasters—A Dangerous Combination?

“…In particular, we find that despite the positive economic outcomes derived from market liberalization, there are pertinent caveats and limitations linked to the expansion of free markets. Liberalization is fraught with consequential trade‐offs, particularly regarding labor and human rights (Abouharb and Cingranelli ; Apodaca ; Blanton and Peksen ). In this instance, we find evidence of a contradiction between market‐friendly policies and the protection of a key societal right—the right to a safe and disaster‐free workplace.…”

“…:v), specifically personal choice, voluntary market exchanges, freedom to enter and compete in markets, and private property rights. The Economic Freedom Index and its subcomponents are widely used proxies for free‐market policies (e.g., Blanton and Peksen ; de Soysa and Vadlammanati ), and have been used and/or cited in more than 400 peer‐reviewed articles (Hall and Lawson ). We use the Economic Freedom Index variable to assess the possible impact that neoliberalism in general has on the likelihood of industrial hazards.…”

“…First, disaster prevention is an especially precarious area for government regulation because the “problem of prevention” (Benoît and Dubra ) lowers the prospective political costs of disasters for the government. At the same time, neoliberal policies can increase the relative power of capital over labor, as they prioritize “business‐friendly” policies that lower the relative power of labor and are antithetical to worker rights (Blanton and Peksen ). These policies would thus make states particularly aware of any potential costs associated with losing capital, to the potential detriment of labor.…”

Strengthening Labour Rights Provisions in Bilateral Trade Agreements: Making the Case for Voluntary Sustainability Standards

“…The enforcement provisions in the agreement are weak and put the responsibility for enforcement firmly in the hands of the Colombian government. However, Colombia, like many developing countries, faces significant incentives not to comply with labour rights provisions as pressures of competitiveness in the global market can force developing countries, especially emerging middle‐income countries looking for foreign investment, to disregard labour standards, often despite legal and institutional improvements (Blanton and Blanton ; Blanton and Peksen ). Besides a lack of willingness to enforce labour rights, a state might also lack the capacity to enforce these rights (Bourgeois et al.…”