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The Political Economy of Private and Public Regulation in Post-Rana Plaza Bangladesh

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  • Jennifer Bair
  • Mark Anner
  • Jeremy Blasi

Abstract

How do public and private labor governance regimes intersect in global supply chains and with what effects? Based on fieldwork in Bangladesh, including interviews with garment industry stakeholders, this article examines the main public and private regulatory reforms instituted in post-Rana Plaza Bangladesh: the Sustainability Compact and the Bangladesh Accord, respectively. Despite the Accord’s substantial achievements in improving workplace safety, particularly relative to the progress achieved under the Compact, findings show that government and industry actors in Bangladesh have resisted the Accord’s efforts to empower workers for fear that improved labor standards would threaten managerial control over one of the global garment industry’s largest and cheapest labor forces. Rather than being an example of complementarity between private and public governance, or an effective substitution of one by the other, post-Rana Plaza Bangladesh represents an undermining of effective private regulation by a state opposed to pro-labor reforms.

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer Bair & Mark Anner & Jeremy Blasi, 2020. "The Political Economy of Private and Public Regulation in Post-Rana Plaza Bangladesh," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(4), pages 969-994, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:73:y:2020:i:4:p:969-994
    DOI: 10.1177/0019793920925424
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    Cited by:

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    5. Ishtehar Sharif Swazan & Debanjan Das, 2022. "Bangladesh's Emergence as a Ready-Made Garment Export Leader: An Examination of the Competitive Advantages of the Garment Industry," International Journal of Global Business and Competitiveness, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 162-174, December.
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    10. Jean‐Christophe Graz & Jimena Sobrino Piazza & André Walter, 2022. "Labour Standards in Global Production Networks: Assessing Transnational Private Regulation and Workers’ Capacity to Act," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 53(4), pages 912-937, July.
    11. Tushar Bharati & Adnan M. S. Fakir, 2022. "Health Costs of a “Healthy Democracy”: The Impact of Peaceful Political Protests on Healthcare Utilization," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 22-15, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    12. Schüßler, Elke & Lohmeyer, Nora & Ashwin, Sarah, 2022. "We can't compete on human rights: creating market-protected spaces to institutionalize the emerging logic of responsible management," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115506, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
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    14. Nathaniel Tetteh & Stephen Mustchin, 2023. "Contrasting union orientations and engagement with international private regulation: The agency and role of labour in MNC subsidiaries in Ghana," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(3), pages 506-525, September.
    15. Sarosh Kuruvilla & Chunyun Li, 2021. "Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining in Global Supply Chains: A Research Agenda," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 57(2), pages 43-57, April.
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    17. Franklin Maduko & Timea Pál & László Bruszt, 2021. "The Role of Domestic Factors in the EU’s Governance of Labour Standards through Trade," RSCAS Working Papers 2021/52, European University Institute.
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