IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/eurjdr/v29y2017i1d10.1057_ejdr.2015.83.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Channels of Influence: The EU and Delta Convergence of Core Labour Standards in the Eastern Neighbourhood

Author

Listed:
  • Sara Kahn-Nisser

    (The Open University of Israel)

Abstract

This article analyses the influence of the EU’s actions on labour standards in the Eastern neighbourhood. It conceptualizes the EU’s actions as potential delta convergence mechanisms and models these mechanisms through a spatial econometric approach, using spatial lags. It then analyses the impact of these mechanisms on target countries’ rate of alignment with the International Labour Organization’s standards using spatial two-stage least squares regression analysis. The results indicate that the EU influences labour standards in the observed countries through a combination of coercion and example-setting, but more so through the former than through the latter. The study finds that participation in the European Neighbourhood Policy does not influence countries’ labour standards, nor does being a Generalized System of Preferences beneficiary. The article concludes that the EU influences labour standards through the manipulation of target countries’ cost-benefit calculations.

Suggested Citation

  • Sara Kahn-Nisser, 2017. "Channels of Influence: The EU and Delta Convergence of Core Labour Standards in the Eastern Neighbourhood," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(1), pages 127-143, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:29:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1057_ejdr.2015.83
    DOI: 10.1057/ejdr.2015.83
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/ejdr.2015.83
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/ejdr.2015.83?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Greenhill, Brian & Mosley, Layna & Prakash, Aseem, 2009. "Trade-based Diffusion of Labor Rights: A Panel Study, 1986–2002," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 103(4), pages 669-690, November.
    2. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:45:y:2007:i::p:789-811 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Nancy H. Chau & Ravi Kanbur, 2006. "The Race to the Bottom, from the Bottom," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 73(290), pages 193-228, May.
    4. Neumayer, Eric & Soysa, Indra de, 2006. "Globalization and the Right to Free Association and Collective Bargaining: An Empirical Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 31-49, January.
    5. Davies, Ronald B. & Vadlamannati, Krishna Chaitanya, 2013. "A race to the bottom in labor standards? An empirical investigation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 1-14.
    6. David KUCERA, 2002. "Core labour standards and foreign direct investment," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 141(1-2), pages 31-69, March.
    7. Lee, Chang Kil & Strang, David, 2006. "The International Diffusion of Public-Sector Downsizing: Network Emulation and Theory-Driven Learning," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(4), pages 883-909, October.
    8. Franzese, Robert J. & Hays, Jude C., 2007. "Spatial Econometric Models of Cross-Sectional Interdependence in Political Science Panel and Time-Series-Cross-Section Data," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(2), pages 140-164, April.
    9. Alasdair R. Young, 2007. "Trade Politics Ain't What It Used to Be: The European Union in the Doha Round," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(4), pages 789-811, November.
    10. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:45:y:2007:i::p:905-926 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Sophie Meunier, 2007. "Managing Globalization? The EU in International Trade Negotiations," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(4), pages 905-926, November.
    12. repec:dau:papers:123456789/255 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Swank, Duane, 2006. "Tax Policy in an Era of Internationalization: Explaining the Spread of Neoliberalism," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(4), pages 847-882, October.
    14. Andrea Gawrich & Inna Melnykovska & Rainer Schweickert, 2010. "Neighbourhood Europeanization through ENP: The Case of Ukraine," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(5), pages 1209-1235, November.
    15. repec:kap:iaecre:v:12:y:2006:i:1:p:51-66 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Stephen DeLoach & Jayoti Das & Lindsey Conley, 2006. "Power Politics and International Labor Standards," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 12(1), pages 51-66, February.
    17. Cao, Xun & Prakash, Aseem, 2010. "Trade Competition and Domestic Pollution: A Panel Study, 1980–2003," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 64(3), pages 481-503, July.
    18. Judith Kelley, 2006. "New Wine in Old Wineskins: Promoting Political Reforms through the New European Neighbourhood Policy," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 29-55, March.
    19. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:45:y:2007:i::p:813-832 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Charles R. Shipan & Craig Volden, 2008. "The Mechanisms of Policy Diffusion," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(4), pages 840-857, October.
    21. Neumayer, Eric & Plümper, Thomas & Epifanio, Mariaelisa, 2014. "The “Peer-Effect” in Counterterrorist Policies," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 68(1), pages 211-234, January.
    22. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:48:y:2010:i::p:1209-1235 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Neumayer, Eric & Plümper, Thomas, 2012. "Conditional spatial policy dependence: theory and model specification," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 44457, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    24. Holzinger, Katharina & Knill, Christoph & Sommerer, Thomas, 2008. "Environmental Policy Convergence: The Impact of International Harmonization, Transnational Communication, and Regulatory Competition," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 62(4), pages 553-587, October.
    25. Christoph Knill & Andrea Lenschow, 2005. "Compliance, Competition and Communication: Different Approaches of European Governance and their Impact on National Institutions," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 583-606, September.
    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. Fangjin Ye, 2020. "The impact of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) on collective labor rights in developing countries," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 899-921, October.
    2. Raess, Damian & Wagner, Patrick, 2022. "South to north investment linkages and decent work in Brazil," Papers 1382, World Trade Institute.
    3. Berliner, Daniel & Greenleaf, Anne & Lake, Milli & Noveck, Jennifer, 2015. "Building Capacity, Building Rights? State Capacity and Labor Rights in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 127-139.
    4. Krishna Chaitanya Vadlamannati, 2015. "Rewards of (Dis)Integration," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 68(1), pages 3-27, January.
    5. KAMATA Isao, 2020. "Labor Market Flexibility and Inward Foreign Direct Investment," Discussion papers 20057, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    6. Fabrizio Gilardi, 2010. "Who Learns from What in Policy Diffusion Processes?," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(3), pages 650-666, July.
    7. KAMATA Isao, 2023. "Foreign Direct Investment and Labor Market Flexibility in Host and Source Countries," Discussion papers 23033, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    8. Messerschmidt, Luca & Janz, Nicole, 2023. "Unravelling the ‘race to the bottom’ argument: Foreign direct investment and different types of labour rights," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    9. Luca Messerschmidt & Nicole Janz, 2020. "Unravelling the 'race to the bottom' argument: How does FDI affect different types of labour rights?," Munich Papers in Political Economy 05, Munich School of Politics and Public Policy and the School of Management at the Technical University of Munich.
    10. Isao KAMATA, 2021. "Labor Market Flexibility and Inward Foreign Direct Investment:Incentive or Outcome?," Discussion papers e-20-007, Graduate School of Economics , Kyoto University.
    11. Blanton, Robert G. & Blanton, Shannon Lindsey & Peksen, Dursun, 2015. "Financial Crises and Labor: Does Tight Money Loosen Labor Rights?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 1-12.
    12. Patrick Wagner & Damian Raess, 2023. "South to north investment linkages and decent work in Brazil," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 37(1), pages 122-159, March.
    13. Lim, Sijeong & Mosley, Layna & Prakash, Aseem, 2015. "Revenue Substitution? How Foreign Aid Inflows Moderate the Effect of Bilateral Trade Pressures on Labor Rights," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 295-309.
    14. Torben Heinze, 2011. "Mechanism-Based Thinking on Policy Diffusion. A Review of Current Approaches in Political Science," KFG Working Papers p0034, Free University Berlin.
    15. Schaffer, Lena Maria & Bernauer, Thomas, 2014. "Explaining government choices for promoting renewable energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 15-27.
    16. Troeger, Vera & Plumper, Thomas, 2012. "Tax Competition and Income Inequality: Why did the Welfare State Survive?," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 83, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    17. repec:ilo:ilowps:470016 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Tobias Böhmelt & Jürg Vollenweider, 2015. "Information flows and social capital through linkages: the effectiveness of the CLRTAP network," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 105-123, May.
    19. Potrafke, Niklas, 2013. "Globalization and labor market institutions: International empirical evidence," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 829-842.
    20. Tanja A. Börzel, 2010. "The Transformative Power of Europe Reloaded - The Limits of External Europeanization," KFG Working Papers p0011, Free University Berlin.
    21. Sophie Perrin & Thomas Bernauer, 2010. "International regime formation revisited: Explaining ratification behaviour with respect to long-range transboundary air pollution agreements in Europe," European Union Politics, , vol. 11(3), pages 405-426, September.

    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:pal:eurjdr:v:29:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1057_ejdr.2015.83. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    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.