Labour governance in global production networks: Assessing labour standards in a new generation of public procurement legislation and trade agreements linked to market access into the European Union (LG-GPN)
Final Report Abstract
For some countries of the Global South, integration in global production networks (GPNs) has increased employment and improved economic development, but also poor working conditions. Traditional governance instruments, like labour laws and private standards and codes of conduct, have shown limited success in improving working conditions in GPNs. While research on labour governance in GPNs focused on these traditional governance instruments, we knew less about a new generation of labour standards tied to market access into the European Union (EU). This project filled this gap by focusing on: 1) labour clauses in the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)’s Trade and Sustainable Development chapter; and 2) the revised EU directive on public procurement permitting labour standards in procurement contracts – socially responsible public procurement (SRPP) – to understand their impacts on governing working conditions in GPNs. Case studies were the clothing and electronics industry GPNs (labour-intensive industries with poor working conditions) and outsourced production in Vietnam (an important EU trading partner). Research was carried out using an interdisciplinary theoretical framework combining the GPN analytical framework from economic geography with transnational regulatory governance theories from political science and concepts of labour power and transnational networks from labour sociology. The project aims were to advance theory on transnational labour governance in GPNs and increase empirical understanding of an under-researched set of labour standards tied to market access into the EU. Research was limited by travel restrictions and lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19, preventing planned research in Vietnam. Analyses instead focused on data gathered in Europe before Covid-19. The findings showed how these governance instruments were implemented and influenced by governmental and non-governmental stakeholders and their impacts for improving working conditions in GPNs in Vietnam. For SRPP, findings showed variation in ambition and interpretation of SRPP across Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden due to limited knowledge, capacity and resources. Our findings also showed the rise of ‘resellers’ as large recipients of procurement tenders and thereby SRPP conditions. The significance of intermediaries, who do not manufacture or outsource production, in electronics public procurement raised new questions on power and leverage in governance relationships between government buyers and intermediary firms. The analyses and findings contribute to debates around SRPP as a regulatory tool for improving working conditions in GPNs and policy discussions on revising the EU Directive on public procurement. For research on the EVFTA, findings captured pre-ratification and early post-ratification implementation phases. Findings showed the EVFTA was largely effective in its precondition approach to bring about important labour reforms by the Vietnamese government. During the post-ratification phase, however, domestic politics, in particular state-market relations in an authoritarian regime, created structural limitations to bringing about strong improvements to working conditions in Vietnam. The analyses contribute to discussions in the EU for a sanctionsbased approach to violations of the Trade and Sustainable Development chapter. The research findings question the ability of sanctions to overcome the specific structural limitations identified.
Publications
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‘Sozial verantwortliches öffentliches Beschaffungswesen des Landes Berlin und der Bezirke: Arbeitnehmerschutz in globalen Lieferketten’, WZB-Mitteilungen, No. 168, Berlin
Gräf, H. & Raj-Reichert, G.
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Soziales Upgrading und industrielle Beziehungen im Globalen Süden. WSI-Mitteilungen, 74(1), 12-19.
Teipen, Christina & Mehl, Fabian
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‘Worker power, state-labour relations and worker identities: Re-conceptualising social upgrading in global value chains’, Department of Development Studies, University of Vienna. Working Paper No. 13
Marslev, K., Staritz, C. & Raj-Reichert, G.
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Conceptualizing the Regulator‐Buyer State in the European Union for the Exercise of Socially Responsible Public Procurement in Global Production Networks. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 60(3), 759-782.
Raj‐Reichert, Gale; Staritz, Cornelia & Plank, Leonhard
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Die Macht von Kaufkraft und Rechtsstaat nutzen, FWF scilog
Staritz, C.
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Rethinking social upgrading in global value chains around worker power, Research Network Sustainable Global Supply Chains
Marslev, K., Staritz, C. & Raj-Reichert, G.
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Rethinking Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains: Worker Power, State‒Labour Relations and Intersectionality. Development and Change, 53(4), 827-859.
Marslev, Kristoffer; Staritz, Cornelia & Raj‐Reichert, Gale
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Towards a stronger EU approach on the trade-labor nexus? The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, social struggles and labor reforms in Vietnam. Review of International Political Economy, 30(3), 1125-1150.
Marslev, Kristoffer & Staritz, Cornelia
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Wie viel Käufermacht haben Staaten, Gemeinden und Spitäler? Die Presse
Grobner, C.
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Öffentliche Beschaffung sozial und ökologisch: globale Wertschöpfungsketten nutzen! Öffentliche Beschaffung sozial und ökologisch - Arbeit&Wirtschaft Blog
Plank, L. & Staritz, C.
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Viet Nam’s Electronics Supply Chain: Decent Work Challenges and Opportunities, International Labour Organization, Geneva and Hanoi
Raj-Reichert, G.
