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The Impact of Suppliers’ Adoption of Voluntary Labour Codes/Certifications on Job Quality in Global Supply Chains: The Sri Lankan Case of Garments without Guilt

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  • Mevan Jayasinghe
  • Larry W. (Chip) Hunter

Abstract

Codes of conduct and certifications on labour standards are designed to distinguish export manufacturing suppliers offering higher quality jobs from those offering poor quality jobs. However, previous research suggests that such codes/certifications have a limited impact on job quality. These studies do not differentiate between ‘compliance‐based codes of conduct’ that retailers enforce on suppliers and ‘voluntary labour codes/certifications’ that suppliers adopt at their discretion. We examine the relationship between suppliers’ adoption of the Garments without Guilt (GwG) voluntary labour code/certification and job quality using fieldwork and longitudinal data on Sri Lankan export apparel suppliers. We find that GwG adoption is associated with higher base pay and safer work, while base pay is lower for GwG adopters that are simultaneously subject to retailers’ enforcement of compliance‐based codes.

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  • Mevan Jayasinghe & Larry W. (Chip) Hunter, 2020. "The Impact of Suppliers’ Adoption of Voluntary Labour Codes/Certifications on Job Quality in Global Supply Chains: The Sri Lankan Case of Garments without Guilt," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 58(4), pages 844-873, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:58:y:2020:i:4:p:844-873
    DOI: 10.1111/bjir.12538
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    Cited by:

    1. Iain J. Fraser & Julia Schwarzkopf & Martin Müller, 2020. "Exploring Supplier Sustainability Audit Standards: Potential for and Barriers to Standardization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-31, October.

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