In the modern globalized economy, Western brands and retailers have developed vast overseas supply chains to produce the goods they sell. As human rights and labor advocates have drawn attention to violations of the rights of workers and payment of poverty wages in supplier facilities, the primary response of brands and retailers has been the creation of corporate social responsibility ("CSR") programs. These programs involve, among other aspects, the creation of voluntary codes of conduct and various schemes to monitor for compliance at supplier factories. Despite the proliferation of CSR initiatives, however, labor rights violations in global supply chains remain pervasive.
This research is an effort to subject the methods and effectiveness of CSR programs to meaningful scrutiny. We also explore alternative approaches -- particularly those involving legally enforceable commitments on the part of brands and retailers and a strong role for workers and labor organizations -- that may hold greater promise.
News articles, Op-ed Pieces, and Press Releases
Academic papers and Institutional reports
Appelbaum, Richard P. 2014. Follow-up letter critiquing the Stern Report, Business as Usual is Not an Option - Supply Chains and Sourcing after Rana Plaza. 13 June 2014.
Davies, R. B., & Vadlamannati, K. C. 2013. 'A race to the bottom in labour standards? An empirical investigation’. Journal of Development Economics (103) 1-14. Available from:
Stanford Law School and Worker Rights Consortium 2013. Monitoring in the Dark: An evaluation of the International Labour Organization’s Better Factories Cambodia monitoring and reporting program.
Claeson, Bjorn 2012. Deadly Secrets. ILRF, December 2012.
Anner, Mark 2012. The Limits of Voluntary Governance Programs: Auditing Labor Rights in the Global Apparel Industry. Politics and Society, December 2012, Vol. 40 No. 4, pp. 609-644. [Older working paper version available here.]
Nova, Scott and Shapiro, Isaac 2012. Polishing Apple: Fair Labor Association gives Foxconn and Apple undue credit for labor rights progress. Economic Policy Institute, 8 November 2012.
Clean Clothes Campaign 2012. 10 Years of the Better Factories Cambodia Program: A Critical Evaluation. Clean Clothes Campaign, August 2012. Available from:
Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM), New iPhone, Old Abuses: Have working conditions at Foxconn in China improved? SACOM, 20 September 2012.
China Labor Watch 2010. Code of Conduct is No More than False Advertising, Disney Suppliers Continue Exploiting Chinese Workers. China Labor Watch, November 2010.
MSN 2008. Codes Memo. Vol. 1 - 23. [MSN has a series of memos spanning several years, available here.]
Ethical Trading Initiative 2006. Getting Smarter at Auditing: Tackling the Growing Crisis in Ethical Trade Auditing. Report from ETI Members’ Meeting, 16 November 2006.
Locke, Richard; Qin, Fei; and Brause, Alberto 2006. Does Monitoring Improve Standards? Lessons from Nike. Working Paper No. 24, July 2006.
Clean Clothes Campaign 2005. Looking for a Quick Fix: How Weak Social Auditing Is Keeping Workers in Sweatshops.
Appelbaum, Richard 2005. Fighting Sweatshops: Problems of Enforcing Global Labor Standards. (eds) Critical Globalization Studies, Routledge, pp. 369-378. [Older version available here.]
Esbenshade, Jill 2005. Monitoring Sweatshops: Workers, Consumers, and the Global Apparel Industry. Cornell University, ILRR Review,. October 2005, Vol. 59, No. 1, Article 84.
O'Rourke, Dara 2003. Outsourcing Regulation. The Policy Studies Journal, Vol. 31, No. 1.