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Cited by 107Global trade, sustainability, and social impactSoftware Engineering and Design PatternsInternational Business and FDI

Chains of Love? Global Production and the Firm‐Level Diffusion of Labor Standards

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Malesky, Edmund J., Mosley, Layna·2018·American Journal of Political Science
DOI 10.1111/ajps.12370
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Abstract

Under what conditions does the global economy serve as a means for the diffusion of labor standards and practices? We anticipate variation among internationally engaged firms in their propensity to improve labor standards. Upgrading is most likely when a firm's products exhibit significant cross‐market differences in markups, making accessing high‐standards overseas markets particularly profitable. Additionally, upgrading is more likely when lead firms attach a high salience to labor standards. Therefore, while participation in global production induces “trading up” behaviors among firms overall, the effect strength varies across industries. We test our expectations via a survey experiment, which queries foreign firms operating in Vietnam about their willingness to invest in labor‐related upgrading. We find strong evidence for the effect of markups on upgrading choices and suggestive evidence for the saliency mechanism.

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  • Issues can emerge on the demand side due to sustainability and ethical breaches in large MNEs' value chains, as evidenced in multiple, recent instances of public backlash in response to poor working conditions in manufacturing factories in South and Southeast Asia.

    “Issues can also emerge on the demand side due to sustainability and ethical breaches in large MNEs' value chains, as evidenced in multiple, recent instances of public backlash in response to poor working conditions in manufacturing factories in South and Southeast Asia (Malesky & Mosley, 2018).”

    From Global value chains: A review of the multi-disciplinary literature (2020) · cites this paper as Malesky & Mosley, 2018

  • Labor standards have become one critical frontier of GVC organization.

    “For example, labor standards have become one critical frontier of GVC organization (Hastings, 2019;Malesky & Mosley, 2018).”

    From Global value chains: A review of the multi-disciplinary literature (2020) · cites this paper as Malesky & Mosley, 2018

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Bartley, Tim, and Curtis Child. 2014. "Shaming the Corpora- tion: The Sociological Production of Targets and the Anti- Sweatshop Movement." American Sociology Review 79: 653- 79.

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Authors
Malesky, E. J., & Mosley, L.
Affiliations
  • Duke University (US)
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
ORCID
Venue
American Journal of Political Science
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2018-06-13
Volume
62
Issue
3
Pages
712-728
ISSN
  • 0092-5853 (ISSN-L)
  • 1540-5907
DOI
10.1111/ajps.12370
OpenAlex
W2808273843
Cited by
107
References
62
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 2
FWCI
11.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
American Journal of Political Science (publishedVersion)
Funders
International Labour Organization
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Global trade, sustainability, and social impact
  • Social Sciences › Development › Software Engineering and Design Patterns
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › International Business and FDI
Keywords
labor standards, global production, upgrading, markups, salience, foreign companies, Vietnam, survey experiment

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