Border and bribery: An anthropology of corruption

Exploitation in global supply chains: Burmese migrant workers in Mae Sot, Thailand

This chapter characterizes and evaluates the internationalization process on going for twin cities located across the Thai-Lao border and on the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) corridors. Two corridors implemented within the Asian Development Bank (ADB) GMS framework at the beginning of the 1990s have a great importance for Thailand and Lao PDR, i.e. the North South Economic Corridor (NSEC) linking Bangkok to Kunming via Lao PDR or via Myanmar's Shan State, and the East West Economic Corridor (EWEC) linking Moulmein port in Myanmar to Danang port in Vietnam via Thailand and Savannakhet Province in Lao PDR (cf. Taillard, Map 2.2 in this volume). The “twin cities” can be defined according to multiple criteria. The first characteristic used for this article is the fact that the selected cities are border towns, i.e. located on an international border (the Mekong River between Thailand and Lao PDR) and with some functions directly related to the presence of this border. Furthermore, the other criterion used is a geographic one, implying the existence of two urban centres facing each other on each side of this international border. If they can be linked by an institutional agreement (“twin cities” or “sister cities” agreement), this institutional aspect is an optional requirement, compared to the interactions (formal and informal) existing between the two cities. Finally, the expression “twin cities” should be nuanced as it implies a resemblance or symmetry between the two urban centres, which is limited in reality, in terms of population, urban landscape or economic activities. This chapter will try to discuss this theoretical frame by studying an example of these so-called “twin cities”, Mukdahan and Savannakhet, focusing on their characteristics, functions and interactions. Since the end of the 1980s, development of border regions has been supported by national governments as well as international institutions such as the ADB to promote decentralization and enhance cross-border trade and economic cooperation with neighbouring countries (Maneepong 2010, p. 1). In the case of Thailand, border towns have been identified as economic gateways since the 7th National Plan, established for the 1992–96 period (NESDB 1999). For Lao PDR, the largest border towns have been developed under the ADB Secondary Towns project at the end of the 1990s.

This paper explores how wealthy countries’ reliance on migrant workers is not restricted to migrants working within their borders but extends, through global supply chains, to migrants employed in lower-income countries. It provides an exploratory discussion of how migration, labour, and trade systems interact to argue for the expansion of research on dependence on migrant labour – a ‘widening of the lens’ – beyond national systems effects. Using the COVID-19 pandemic and associated concern with the provision of essential goods and services, we consider how the employment of migrants in global supply chains, and by extension societal resilience of higher-income countries, is shaped by trade policies and agreements regulating flows of essential products across countries; labour markets and conditions in low- and middle-income countries producing essential products for export; and migration systems between and within low- and middle-income countries. Thus, we tentatively explore how national systems and institutions interlock with those of other states, and also with transnational and international institutions. We illustrate our arguments with a case study of the Malaysian production and export of rubber gloves, an essential good during the COVID-19 pandemic that is heavily dependent on migrant labour.

Dollar invoicing, global value chains, and the business cycle dynamics of international trade

This article discusses the growing issue of labor rights within global supply chains, with a focus on the importance of due diligence in ensuring decent work standards. Global supply chains, often complex and obscured by various economic and contractual layers, frequently result in poor working conditions, low wages, and human rights abuses, especially for vulnerable workers in developing countries. The article emphasizes that corporate due diligence can be a key tool in addressing these challenges, preventing violations, and promoting better labor conditions. The objective of this study is to analyze how due diligence frameworks can be integrated into business practices to improve labor rights. While voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives have gained popularity, they often lack enforceability, which leaves workers unprotected. The article argues for a dual approach that combines both voluntary and mandatory compliance mechanisms to ensure accountability and effective protection for workers across supply chains. The research utilizes a qualitative methodology, examining historical case studies and international frameworks designed to improve labor rights in supply chains. Notable cases like the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh and the Brazil Verde Farm case illustrate the devastating effects of failing to implement labor protections. These cases highlight the need for robust due diligence and human rights protections within global supply chains. The article reviews international guidelines such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and ILO standards on decent work, evaluating their effectiveness in ensuring compliance. The study finds gaps in existing voluntary compliance mechanisms, often leaving labor abuses unaddressed. As a solution, the article advocates for mandatory due diligence legislation, citing Germany's Supply Chain Act as a positive example of proactive legislation that can set global standards for responsible business conduct. Additionally, the research highlights the role of trade unions and collective bargaining in advocating for workers' rights. These social partners are crucial for ensuring that due diligence measures lead to tangible improvements in working conditions, and that workers have a voice in shaping their employment terms. In conclusion, the article stresses the need for a comprehensive approach to addressing labor rights violations in global supply chains. This includes strong legal frameworks, the active participation of trade unions, and effective due diligence practices. By addressing these multifaceted issues, companies can ensure decent work standards are met throughout their supply chains, contributing to a fairer and more ethical global economy.

This article explores how the forces of mobility affect the border society of Mae Sot, Thailand. In particular, it examines two forces generating population movements involving Burmese migrants: the Bangkok Dream, which pushes migrants from the borderland to Bangkok in their search for better opportunities, and refugee resettlement programs, which take refugees from the borderland to other countries. These two processes create massive human migrations across and beyond the border, with Mae Sot serving as a node. The study found that migrations have become part and parcel of societal formation of the border town.

Even though workplace conditions worldwide are subject to local and international laws, labor conditions in global supply chains have continuously raised human rights concerns. In response to societal pressure, multinationals have taken on a certain degree of responsibility regarding workplace conditions in supplier factories, notably by adopting codes of conduct. Investigating the impact of this self‐regulatory policy, scholars have examined whether and how codes shape labor conditions at the production level, but the results of their empirical studies diverge and sometimes contradict. To bring clarity to the field and gain an overarching understanding of the impact of codes, this literature review analyzes the question of their effectiveness as examined in 33 scientific papers gathered via a systematic selection of empirical studies. The review shows that supplier codes are not deemed unanimously and evenly effective by scholars and often fail to improve labor conditions. However, a range of factors are identified that facilitate the implementation of codes and ensure its effectiveness. This article develops a taxonomy of these factors and intends to contribute to understanding codes' decoupling and recoupling processes by investigating the gap between codes provisions and their intended outcome: the improvement of labor practices in global supply chains.

As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister’s important new book makes clear, business is the new “green.” But while “eco-businesses” may share many interests with environmentalists, in the end even the greenest businesses are “fundamentally aiming for the sustainability of big business, not... of people and the planet” (p. 2). When contemplating the merger of business and sustainability, we should proceed with caution. Strangely, many environmentalists don’t see it that way. Disillusioned with half-hearted “commitments” to sustainability, more and more of them have begun abandoning states and international organizations for the private sector. In the hope of jump-starting the stalled movement for sustainability, non-governmental organizations (NGOs)—including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the Sierra Club, and Greenpeace—have allied themselves with corporations such as Nike, Starbucks, Procter & Gamble, and Walmart. While such alliances may seem surprising, environmental strategists increasingly see them as preferable to working with posturing or politicized states and international organizations.Moreover, the urgency of the problemswe face demands pragmatism. As one NGO leader puts it, “right now, we need every weapon in our armory to deal with the challenges we’re facing... we don’t have time to get moral about this and question the integrity of using brands....” (quoted on p. 160). And, as boosters in the environmental community point out, working with the private sector has advantages. Money, for one: the big brands are well heeled and ready to share their wealth with like-mindedNGOs. In 2010, theWWF reaped about $20 million by partnering with Coca-Cola. Power, for another: by partnering with Walmart, EDF gets the opportunity to help shape the sustainability policies of a company with over 2 million employees, 100,000 suppliers, and annual sales of almost half a trillion dollars. As one environmentalist observes, “We could spend 50 years lobbying 75 national governments to change the regulatory framework for the way... commodities are grown and produced. Or these folks at Coke could make a [sustainability] decision... and the whole global supply chain changes overnight” (quoted on pp. 19–20). Compared to states and international organizations, businesses have an unparalleled command over resources, suppliers, commodity chains, and consumers that gives them the nimbleness, flexibility, and reach necessary to rapidly effect environmental reforms.

This book brings together a set of studies on labour conditions in global value chains (GVCs) in a variety of sectors, ranging from labour-intensive sectors (garments, fresh fruits, tourism), to medium and high technology sectors (automobiles, electronics and telecom) and knowledge-intensive sectors (IT software services). The studies span a number of countries across Asia - Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. This book stands out for its grounded and detailed examination of both what is working and what is not working as Asian labour gets more embedded in global value chains. In trying to identify spaces for progressive action and policies in the current GVC-linked global work environment, the book goes against the grain in searching for an alternative to laissez faire forms of globalisation.

Abstract: This article discusses the growing issue of labor rights within global supply chains, with a focus on the importance of due diligence in ensuring decent work standards. Global supply chains, often complex and obscured by various economic and contractual layers, frequently result in poor working conditions, low wages, and human rights abuses, especially for vulnerable workers in developing countries. The article emphasizes that corporate due diligence can be a key tool in addressing these challenges, preventing violations, and promoting better labor conditions.

This study develops the Sustainability Price (SP) to include social and environmental costs in the price of goods and to move towards a sustainable economy, as recommended by the UN Global Sustainability Panel. The SP addresses research gaps for integrating social and environmental values as well as computational methods in Environmental Life Cycle Costing (ELCC). A detailed case study is used to identify data sources, develop the method and consider policy applications for product labelling. An Interdisciplinary Research (IDR) methodology is used to provide a framework for methods for calculating costs to meet minimum sustainability values. Values are based on UN sustainability goals with a focus on climate change and poverty. Costs for climate change are based on the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) carbon price paths to avoid dangerous climate change. Costs for poverty are based on Anker’s method, which follows the UN cost of basic needs approach which is used by international institutions, national governments and ethical trade organisations. The costs are expressed as changes in value added and tracked through the supply chain using the Leontief price model. The case study uses a scoping analysis to identify important variables which are the focus of data collection and a hybrid modelling approach. Existing economic and social surveys in India captured regional and production variables for the SP. Hotspots in the production process included indirect GHG emissions for spinning and knitting processes and absolute poverty in cotton farming regions such as Gujarat. Despite wage increases of up to 200% to address absolute poverty, the SP of a T-shirt produced in India is only about 2% more than the existing price when retailed in the USA. The SP clearly communicates the costs to address poverty and climate change in global supply chains and demonstrates the use of economic methods and data sources in ELCC. The SP identifies hotspots in the supply chain and can inform labelling for ethical trade products. The SP is limited to minimum values for sustainability and does not consider optimisation. Expanding the scope to other minimum values such as planetary boundaries is recommended for further research.

Article Commentary| May 20 2021 Holding Up a Mirror to the World Trade Organization: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic Collections: Special Collection: Global Political Economy of COVID-19 , Section: Political Economy, Markets, and Institutions Amrita Narlikar Amrita Narlikar Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar [email protected] Global Perspectives (2021) 2 (1): 24069. https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2021.24069 Article history Received: January 26 2021 Accepted: March 23 2021 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Amrita Narlikar; Holding Up a Mirror to the World Trade Organization: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic. Global Perspectives 1 February 2021; 2 (1): 24069. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2021.24069 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentGlobal Perspectives Search Topics Political Economy, Markets, and Institutions, Global Political Economy of COVID-19 Keywords: pandemic, covid19, wto, multilateralism, geoeconomics, reform The devastating COVID-19 pandemic has thrown several aspects of global governance under challenge. The World Health Organization (WHO), as the nodal organization mandated to deal with public health issues, has understandably attracted the greatest attention in the context of the pandemic, and has come under fire for a multitude of sins of both omission and commission (e.g., Applebaum 2020; Buranyi 2020; Saran 2020). But what of other cognate international institutions that govern the global political economy and thereby facilitate or hamper access to lifesaving medical equipment and drugs, provide a system of enforceable rules to encourage vaccine development and distribution, or ensure that populations already beleaguered by a potentially lethal contagion do not become casualties of new scarcities of essential goods and services? In this article, I focus on one such key organization: the World Trade Organization (WTO), the primary regulator of trade multilateralism, which assists in the seamless... You do not currently have access to this content.

This chapter explores efforts to improve labour conditions and wages along global value chains in three key sectors: apparel and textiles; agriculture and agro-processing; and tourism. Asymmetrical power relations exist across these chains that are skewed in favour of lead firms (multi-national corporations). The priorities and demands of lead firms are thus pushed down the chain to less powerful actors, often shaping working conditions and wages at the bottom of the chain. All too often, these demands have been rooted in reducing costs and increasing profits. Accordingly, this chapter focuses on the strategies that govern working conditions of labour in global value chains, and the related impact(s) (e.g. in terms of the number and quality of employment opportunities). Governance of labour in a value chain context has predominantly been implemented through compliance-based strategies, in which firms within GVCs have to comply with standards dictated by the lead firm if they want to participate in a value chain. However, other actors have to some extent been able to influence these standards; this includes closer partnerships (and support) with supplier firms (mentor-driven strategies) often based in low-income countries; broader coalitions of actors especially from civil society (associative strategies e.g. Fairtrade, government regulations); or pressure from workers themselves (bottom-up strategies). While desired changes for labour when participating in a value chain include social upgrading (higher wages and better working conditions), the chapter illustrates in the governance of labour there are rarely ‘win-win’ strategies that promote all desired improvements. Change is often partial and accompanied by social downgrading (i.e. negative changes).

Global value chain (GVC) analysis has been developed to understand the changing nature of global production and distribution processes, but it has not been widely adopted by sociologists to understand the implications of globalization for work, employment and the levers for upgrading labour conditions. To understand the extent to which insertion in GVCs creates opportunities for the upgrading of labour and skills, it is necessary to consider the influence of national institutions, alongside internationally dispersed relationships between companies in different parts of the value chain. By examining the production of farmed salmon in Chile, the article explores the interactions between national institutions for innovation and skills development and locally based producers’ insertion in the global value chain.

<p>The minimum wage is an essential issue for workers in Indonesia. Employers still apply the minimum wage to all workers, regardless of their experience. Further, the calculation of the minimum wage is still based on an estimate for single workers. This calculation can mean that a worker is unable to meet the daily needs of their dependent family. Workers in Indonesia are trapped in debt and poverty. The minimum wage in Indonesia is intended as a safety net to prevent workers from falling into poverty, with workers’ welfare the responsibility of the state. This study aims to examine the role of the state in determining the minimum wage policy. The outcomes of this process cannot be separated from the strength of workers and employers to communicate their interests. As a semi-peripheral country within the international division of labour, the minimum wage policy in Indonesia is influenced by the interests of international capital. This qualitative study uses the capitalist state theories of Miliband, Poulantzas, and Jessop to examine the role of the state and worker-employer relations, and the influence of the international market on determining minimum wage policy in Indonesia -with world-systems analysis also drawn on to investigate the international market context. Overall, this study proves that wage rates are the result of the struggle of the agency, i.e. workers, employers, and government personnel through various institutions, regulatory products and laws. The various regulations and institutions of the state ensure that the struggle between these interest groups takes place in a way that does not endanger capitalism as the prevailing economic and political system. For workers, the struggle for increased wages occurs at two levels. Firstly through tripartite institutions -Institutions where workers, employers and government representatives negotiate wages and other industrial relations issues- and laws that are created by the state to limit struggles around the wage rate. Secondly, through a larger, democratic space in strikes or demonstrations are staged. Employers mostly pursue their interests through parliamentary, tripartite institutions and through occupying prominent positions in government structures. International markets affect the determining of wage policy through the actions of international and regional institutions that provide access to overseas debt, and who stipulate the conditions to be followed by the Indonesian government in receipt of this debt.</p>