IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ate/journl/ajbev2i1-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cambodiaʼs Garment Industry and Labor Conditions - A Showcase for Social Sustainability, or not better than its Neighbors?

Author

Listed:
  • Nathalie Homlong
  • Elisabeth Springler

Abstract

The garment industry accounts for a lion’s share of Cambodiaʼs exports, and about a quarter of industrial employment in the country. An agreement with the USA on preferential trade terms based on the stipulation of better working conditions led to an improvement of working conditions in Cambodiaʼs garment industry. This also has had a positive effect on demand for garments produced in Cambodia, as good working conditions are increasingly important for clothing brands. In the last years, however, after the end of a trade agreement with the USA, the industry has been increasingly experiencing strikes and labor unrest, as well as a decline in demand. Also, China (a major investor in this industry) has partly moved production to cheaper locations. This leads to the following research questions/starting points: - Assessment of the labor conditions in the garment industry in Cambodia. - What are the potentials and challenges for sustainable social development in Cambodiaʼs textile industry? The paper combines qualitative and quantitative research methods by integrating a SWOT analysis and analysis of statistical data to show the tensions between economic development and social cohesion in this emerging economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Nathalie Homlong & Elisabeth Springler, 2016. "Cambodiaʼs Garment Industry and Labor Conditions - A Showcase for Social Sustainability, or not better than its Neighbors?," Athens Journal of Business & Economics, Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER), vol. 2(1), pages 33-46, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:ate:journl:ajbev2i1-3
    DOI: =10.30958/ajbe.2-1-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.athensjournals.gr/business/2016-2-1-3-Homlong.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/=10.30958/ajbe.2-1-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Savchenko, Yevgeniya & Acevedo, Gladys Lopez, 2012. "Female wages in the apparel industry post-MFA : the cases of Cambodia and Sri Lanka," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6061, The World Bank.
    2. Eileen Appelbaum, 1985. "Employment and the Distribution of Earned Income," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(4), pages 594-602, July.
    3. Staritz, Cornelia, 2012. "Apparel exports - still a path for industrial development? Dynamics in apparel global value chains and implications for low-income countries," Working Papers 34, Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Prema-chandra Athukorala & Raveen Ekanayake, 2014. "Repositioning in the Global Apparel Value Chain in the Post-MFA Era: Strategic Issues and Evidence from Sri Lanka," Departmental Working Papers 2014-17, The Australian National University, Arndt-Corden Department of Economics.
    2. Farhad Uddin Ahmed & Louis Brennan, 2019. "Performance determinants of early internationalizing firms: The role of international entrepreneurial orientation," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 389-424, September.
    3. Grumiller, Jan & Azmeh, Shamel & Staritz, Cornelia & Raza, Werner & Grohs, Hannes & Tröster, Bernhard, 2018. "Strategies for sustainable upgrading in global value chains: The Tunisian textile and apparel sector," Policy Notes 27/2018, Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE).
    4. Louise Curran & Khalid Nadvi, 2015. "Shifting trade preferences and value chain impacts in the Bangladesh textiles and garment industry," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 8(3), pages 459-474.
    5. Tiago Domingues, 2018. "Global Value Chains and Vertical Specialization: The case of Portuguese Textiles and Shoes exports," GEE Papers 00117, Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos, Ministério da Economia, revised Jan 2019.
    6. Zhihong Chen & Jabbar Ul-Haq & Hubert Visas & Ahmed Raza Cheema, 2019. "Globalization and Working Environment Nexus: Evidence From Pakistan," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(2), pages 21582440198, May.
    7. Prema†chandra Athukorala & Raveen Ekanayake, 2018. "Repositioning in the global apparel value chain in the post†MFA era: Strategic issues and evidence from Sri Lanka," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(S1), pages 247-269, March.
    8. Jabbar Ul-Haq & Hubert Visas & Seyedrohollah Ahmadi & Ahmed Raza Cheema, 2020. "Female Earnings in the Apparel Industry Post-MFA: Evidence From Pakistan," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(2), pages 21582440209, May.
    9. Tiago Domingues, 2018. "Global Value Chains and Vertical Specialization: The case of Portuguese Textiles and Shoes exports," GEE Papers 00117, Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos, Ministério da Economia, revised Jan 2019.
    10. Farhad Uddin Ahmed & Louis Brennan, 2019. "The impact of Founder’s human capital on firms’ extent of early internationalisation: Evidence from a least-developed country," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 615-659, September.
    11. Alessandro Roncaglia, 2015. "Sidney Weintraub e i post-keynesiani d’America (Sydney Weintraub and the American Post-Keynesians)," Moneta e Credito, Economia civile, vol. 68(271), pages 273-279.
    12. World Bank, 2013. "Where Have All the Poor Gone? : Cambodia Poverty Assessment 2013," World Bank Publications - Reports 17546, The World Bank Group.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ate:journl:ajbev2i1-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Afrodete Papanikou (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.athensjournals.gr .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.