Governing health and safety at lower tiers of the computer industry global value chain

Abstract

Global brands remain under increasing pressure to ensure labor standards and codes of conduct are met by their suppliers. Little is known about how this is addressed by lower tier suppliers. We investigate whether, and how, occupational health and safety standards permeate down the computer industry value chain. We compare first and second tier suppliers' engagement with a private voluntary industry code, the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct, and the publicly regulated European Union Directive on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances. We find the industry code absent at the lower tier, yet second tier suppliers do implement the European Union Directive. This is achieved without support from public agencies or global value chain linkages. Our findings question the emphasis placed on chain governance in studies of labor compliance in global value chains, and suggest that alternative and complementary approaches may be required for effective labor compliance throughout the value chain.

Global value chains and the rise of the Global South: unpacking twenty‐first century polycentric trade

“…Yet, it was also a conceptualization largely focused on lead firms and the transaction costs associated with their linkages with their first-tier suppliers. There was little consideration, however, given to lower-tier governance, an issue that particularly concerns the management of labour and environmental standards (Mezzadri 2014;Nadvi and Raj-Reichert 2015).…”

Leveraging the Vertical: The Contested Dynamics of Sustainability Standards and Labour in Global Production Networks

“…Consistent with such expectations, evidence from cut flower and banana industries shows that close co‐ordination with buyers can bolster labour standards (Riisgaard and Hammer ). Other enabling factors are lead firms being from the US or Europe versus East Asia (Mingwei and Li ), suppliers being in a first versus a lower tier (Nadvi and Raj‐Reichert ) and focusing events, such as major disasters, which stir corrective actions from buyers (Frenkel et al . ).…”

From standard takers to standard makers? The role of knowledge‐intensive intermediaries in setting global sustainability standards

“…The literature on the 'regulatory renaissance' challenges the top-down perspective of private governance in global production. It sheds light on how public and private actors interact, collaborate and complement each other in setting, implementing and enforcing rules about labour and environmental conditions in global production and consumption (Bartley 2011;Locke et al 2013;Nadvi 2014;Nadvi and Raj-Reichert 2015). These findings question the view that emerging economies have weak public institutions that are subordinate to private regulation.…”

“…Conceptually, the article builds on the scientific debates of the governance approach in GPNs and on the 'regulatory renaissance' literature that emphasizes the role of developing countries and modes of public-private interactions in setting sustainable standards (Bartley 2011;Nadvi and Raj-Reichert 2015). We link these approaches to the research developed in economic geography on the spatial shaping of knowledge dynamics.…”