Abstract:Disputes concerning global labor practices are at the core of contemporary debates regarding globalization. Critics have charged multinational enterprises with the unjust exploitation of workers in the developing world. In response, some economists and "classical liberals" have argued that these criticisms are grounded in a naïve understanding of global economics. They contend instead that sweatshops constitute an inevitable and essential feature of economic development. To the contrary, we argue that there ar… Show more
“…This latter does nothing to show that efficiency wages would be justified and the former is just a bald unsubstantiated assertion. 31 See Arnold and Hartman (2006) in which the authors offer three other mechanisms for how increases wages might not unemploy workers: passing on costs to consumers, cost cutting in other areas, and accepting a lower return. See Powell (2006) for a critical review of these mechanisms.…”
During the last decade, scholarly criticism of sweatshops has grown increasingly sophisticated. This article reviews the new moral and economic foundations of these criticisms and argues that they are flawed. It seeks to advance the debate over sweatshops by noting the extent to which the case for sweatshops does, and does not, depend on the existence of competitive markets. It attempts to more carefully distinguish between different ways in which various parties might seek to modify sweatshop behavior, and to point out that there is more room for consensus regarding some of these methods than has previously been recognized. It addresses the question of when sweatshops are justified in violating local labor laws. And it assesses the relevance of recent literature on coercion and exploitation as it applies to sweatshop labor. It concludes with a list of challenges that critics of sweatshops must meet to productively advance the debate.
“…This latter does nothing to show that efficiency wages would be justified and the former is just a bald unsubstantiated assertion. 31 See Arnold and Hartman (2006) in which the authors offer three other mechanisms for how increases wages might not unemploy workers: passing on costs to consumers, cost cutting in other areas, and accepting a lower return. See Powell (2006) for a critical review of these mechanisms.…”
During the last decade, scholarly criticism of sweatshops has grown increasingly sophisticated. This article reviews the new moral and economic foundations of these criticisms and argues that they are flawed. It seeks to advance the debate over sweatshops by noting the extent to which the case for sweatshops does, and does not, depend on the existence of competitive markets. It attempts to more carefully distinguish between different ways in which various parties might seek to modify sweatshop behavior, and to point out that there is more room for consensus regarding some of these methods than has previously been recognized. It addresses the question of when sweatshops are justified in violating local labor laws. And it assesses the relevance of recent literature on coercion and exploitation as it applies to sweatshop labor. It concludes with a list of challenges that critics of sweatshops must meet to productively advance the debate.
“…New pressures from shareholder scrutiny, international organizations, governments, NGOs, and consumers have forced companies to make serious efforts to ensure ethical behavior and practices employed by their suppliers and business partners in their extended global supply chain (Arnold and Bowie, 2007;Arnold and Hartman, 2006;Roberts, 2003).…”
Section: Mnc Global Supply Chain Managementmentioning
“…The alarming documentary "The True Cost" brought many of these issues to the forefront with its depiction of the workers around the world that make the clothes we wear every day, and the sweatshop conditions that characterize their daily work environment (Morgan 2015). Low wages, long hours, child labor and other forms of labor abuse have come under major scrutiny and have been condemned by a wide range of critics in the fashion industry (Arnold and Hartman 2006;McRobbie 1997).…”
Ethical and sustainable business practices have become some of the most significant concerns in the highly globalized fashion industry. Firms in this multi-billion dollar industry are taking these concerns seriously, and are carefully monitoring and responding to consumers' actions that can range from expressing displeasure via social media to holding protests or even calling for boycotts of certain brands and firms. In this paper, the first output from a larger project on ethics of fashion, we review the extant literature on the ethical aspects of the global fashion system; and set the stage for further empirical and conceptual work.
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