Globalization and the Labor Markets of the Logistics Industry

Bensman, David

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1129786

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Focusing on these issues reveals a dark side to the logistics sector that is simply invisible in the dominant business and management literatures on the topic. Bensman (2008) is another author who has explored the potential for technological advances to transform the logistics labour markets into a 'high-road' model of growth that would see manual labour replaced by educated labour focused on handling the large, more technically complex systems effectively and propelled by high levels of innovation and customization. His findings instead point to a widely prevalent 'low-road' labour market model creating costs both for global commerce in terms of uncertainty, delay and inventory, but also for wider society in terms of environmental externalities and strained infrastructure: 'the impact of the logistics revolution is not only that it provides employers access to far-flung networks of cheap labor, it also enables them to hire labor in ways that reduce their responsibilities, their benefit obligations, their tax liabilities, their insurance costs, and their fixed costs for equipment and so on' (Bensman 2008: 3).…”

Section: Logistics and Social Upgradingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…'However, the approach advocated in the toolkit has brought large-scale job losses and casualisation' (Martin 2008: 10), justified by the World Bank in terms of the extra jobs supposedly created in the hinterland by increased port efficiency (for more on dock workers, see Bonacich and Wilson 2008: Chapter 7). • Truck drivers: contracting out and deregulation in port trucking (drayage) in the US has led to vicious competition, inhuman working hours, health and safety issues and falling wage levels, and these poor conditions are mirrored in Canada, China, India, South Africa and South Korea (Bensman 2008). According to the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) (2006), 'in the goods transport sector, unions note the growth of informal truck operators employing workers without formal contracts, rights or benefits, including migrant workers.…”

Section: Logistics and Social Upgradingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Economic and Social Upgrading in Global Logistics

Coe

Heß

2013

SSRN Journal

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Contemporary economic globalization as a highly dynamic process has seen substantial changes in its organization, governance, geographies and impacts. These global shifts can be characterized by-among other aspects-increased functional and geographical fragmentation of production processes, various waves of outsourcing and off-shoring, changing geographies of production and consumption and associated labour market dynamics. At the same time, nation states and regional economic blocs aim at increasing macro-regional and global integration through bilateral and multilateral trade and investment negotiations, predicated on transformations in transportation and logistics technologies that enable the functioning of complex global production networks (GPNs) and link regional, national and supra-national economies. This paper aims to assess the consequences of what has been termed a 'logistics revolution' for economic and social upgrading in global logistics and client sectors. It starts by charting the existing research base and exploring the structure and dynamics of the global logistics industry, before addressing the potential of and obstacles to economic and social upgrading. The analysis highlights the often-neglected importance of logistics as a global industry: a major employer and value generator in its own right, with its own evolving GPNs. It demonstrates the increasingly diverse structure of logistics operations and labour markets, creating opportunities for upgrading through innovation and new technologies, but at the same time it shows the continued prevalence of 'low-road' logistics labour markets and workers often struggling to secure labour rights, decent wages and improved working conditions. These issues are illustrated and discussed for both the global logistics industry itself and the logistics activities in client sectors such as horticulture, apparel and mobile communications. The paper concludes with reflections on the contingent and variegated outcomes of logistics development and avenues for future research.

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Section: Logistics and Social Upgradingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Logistics and Social Upgradingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic and Social Upgrading in Global Logistics

Coe

Heß

2013

SSRN Journal

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“…However, research suggests that most of these jobs offer limited advancement and income (BENSMAN, 2008;CHRISTOPHERSON and BELZER, 2009;HALL, 2009). Therefore, to create greater opportunities, localities would have to develop more complex strategies that take advantage of the growth of localization trends in production to attract and build on the final, value-added stages of the production process.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

River of Traffic: The Spatial Fragmentation of US Ports

Potter

2013

Regional Studies

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“…They show that the exigencies of supply chain integration cause downward pressure on working conditions across nodes in the supply chain, including in warehousing and distribution, where labor costs make up anywhere from 50% to 65% of total costs (Emmett, 2005;Tompkins and Smith, 1998;TZA, 2014). Similarly, a growing body of literature has examined working conditions and found significant numbers of racial and ethnic minorities toiling for low wages in insecure jobs (Bensman, 2008;Bonacich and De Lara, 2009;Cho, 2012;Ciscel et al, 2003;Jaffee, 2010;Rowe, 2012). Job quality within the sector varies, including the oft-cited model of UPS, which offers job ladders, benefits packages, and decent wages.…”

Section: The Distribution Function and Labor Markets In Gpnsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disarticulating distribution: Labor segmentation and subcontracting in global logistics

Gutelius

2015

Geoforum

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a b s t r a c tAn enduring focus of scholarly work on global production networks (GPNs) is the process of insertion into production networks and the capacity of places to shape their manner of inclusion. Sometimes overlooked are ways in which these insertions are based on an evolving set of exclusions. A disarticulations perspective trains our attention on the mutual interplay between moments of inclusion and exclusion that produce uneven geographies and histories of development, foregrounding place-specific factors and offering a framework for understanding local experimentation. Firms continue to restructure under relentless pressure to improve performance and the concomitant need to experiment, causing firm strategy to shape-shift and re-making relations of inclusion and exclusion. In the distribution function of global supply chains, the prevailing value-creation strategy is downward pressure on the cost of labor, but this perhaps suggests a false sense of stability. Using data gathered in the distribution hub just outside of Chicago, I examine the role of labor market intermediaries in re-negotiating the boundaries of inclusion. This article explores processes of linking and delinking subsets of workers and the differential implications for worker segments and their attachment to the supply chain. Inscribed in the absorption of places and workers into GPNs are ongoing processes of disarticulation, evident in this case through the labor market strategies pursued by local firms and temporary staffing agencies. These processes lay bare the mechanisms that reproduce capital-labor relationships in global supply chains.

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Globalization and the Labor Markets of the Logistics Industry

Cited by 10 publications

References 9 publications

Economic and Social Upgrading in Global Logistics

Economic and Social Upgrading in Global Logistics

River of Traffic: The Spatial Fragmentation of US Ports

Disarticulating distribution: Labor segmentation and subcontracting in global logistics

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