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Why do labor regimes change? Worker power, the supplier squeeze, and structural transformation in the global apparel industry

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  • Kristoffer Marslev
  • Lindsay Whitfield

Abstract

Debates on labor regimes situate worker outcomes at the intersection of globalized production and specific social formations, but they do not specify how and why labor regimes change over time. This article presents a new approach to explaining how labor regimes change in the global apparel industry, the labor-led profit squeeze approach, combining insights from global production networks (GPN), development economics and labor studies. This approach argues that workers’ bargaining power is largely conditional upon processes of structural transformation. The article demonstrates this conceptual approach through a comparative analysis of the apparel export industries in Madagascar, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristoffer Marslev & Lindsay Whitfield, 2025. "Why do labor regimes change? Worker power, the supplier squeeze, and structural transformation in the global apparel industry," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 25(4), pages 487-507.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jecgeo:v:25:y:2025:i:4:p:487-507.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jeg/lbae049
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    JEL classification:

    • P52 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Studies of Particular Economies
    • Q10 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - General

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