Regulating Labour Conditions in Multi-Tier Global Value Chains: A Paper Presentation and Reflections on Its Development

• In-person event
• 6010, Nicol, Carleton University
• 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6

• Contact
• Megan Moran, megan.moran@carleton.ca

Presenter: Dr. Jinsun Bae

A catered lunch will be available from 11:30 AM

This seminar has two objectives. First, I will present a recently published work in the Journal of World Business (see the abstract below). Afterwards, I will share reflections on the paper’s development and publication process, with the aim of offering useful insights for graduate students and scholars engaged in interdisciplinary research.

How do multinational enterprises (MNEs), functioning as lead firms, monitor and enforce their labor standards in multi-tiered global value chains (GVCs)? Drawing on a case study of two Korean multinational first-tier suppliers in the apparel and electronics industries, we show that suppliers can act as regulatory intermediaries, cascading the lead firm’s labor standard to their own suppliers further down the chain. Our findings suggest that as the lead firm’s labor standard is extended to lower-tier suppliers, the quality of regulation may decline. Faced with inconsistent demands from the lead firms and challenging conditions in host countries, the case companies pursued “good-enough” compliance—meeting the minimum expectations necessary to avoid penalties, while prioritizing production goals—over full compliance.