Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ph5wq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T13:40:52.298Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - Inside and Out

The Determinants of Labor Rights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Layna Mosley
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Get access

Summary

The previous chapter sets the stage for considering the impact of multinational production on workers’ collective rights. In this chapter, I develop a set of hypotheses linking the two. My main hypotheses focus on the implications of different modes of production – directly owned versus subcontracted – for labor rights outcomes in developing nations. In addition to theorizing about the effects of international economic participation on labor-related outcomes, I also consider the impact global learning and advocacy, as well as domestic political institutions, have on labor rights. Whereas the main focus of this book is on the impact of the global economy on labor rights, I discuss the potential direct and mediating effects of the latter two factors.

The main theoretical argument I advance is that participation in the global economy has varying effects in developing countries. Some elements of global production, such as directly owned investments, are likely to promote better respect for labor rights. However, other elements of global production, particularly arm’s-length subcontracting relationships, may have negative consequences for workers as a result of the cost competition they engender. Ultimately, then, the impact of economic openness on workers’ rights will depend on how each country is integrated into the global economy, and this varies across countries and over time. Variation in multinational firms’ modes of entry will be associated with differences in firms’ attitudes toward, and practices regarding, collective labor rights. Empirically, subcontracting and high trade openness may present governments with one set of pressures, while foreign direct investment and capital market openness could expose them to a different – and perhaps contradictory – set of demands.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Inside and Out
  • Layna Mosley, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  • Book: Labor Rights and Multinational Production
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511780998.003
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Inside and Out
  • Layna Mosley, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  • Book: Labor Rights and Multinational Production
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511780998.003
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Inside and Out
  • Layna Mosley, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  • Book: Labor Rights and Multinational Production
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511780998.003
Available formats
×