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Vietnamese Textile and Garment Industry in the Global Supply Chain: State Strategies and Workers’ Responses

Author

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  • Angie Ngoc Tran

    (California State University, Monterey Bay)

Abstract

This paper examines the development of textile and garment manufacturing in the context of the prevailing arguments on pursuing market-oriented liberalisation and state directed domestic linkages, and the impacts of these developments on unions and workers in Vietnam. Despite rapid growth in exports and employment, the empirical evidence shows that market-oriented integration in the global economy has limited firms’ operations to low value-added activities and workers to toil for non-livable wages. The global supply chain has also exposed firms and consigned workers to the vicissitudes of volatile fluctuations in demand causing retrenchments, substandard working conditions and a vicious circle of underdevelopment and poverty. Albeit limited the state-controlled Vinatex has managed to promote domestic linkages in Vietnam, suggesting that the industry can actually be restructured to absorb higher value-added activities. A shift to upgrading activities, including learning and skills training, is essential to support improvements in wages and working conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Angie Ngoc Tran, 2012. "Vietnamese Textile and Garment Industry in the Global Supply Chain: State Strategies and Workers’ Responses," Institutions and Economies (formerly known as International Journal of Institutions and Economies), Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, vol. 4(3), pages 123-150, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:umk:journl:v:4:y:2012:i:3:p:123-150
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    File URL: http://ijie.um.edu.my/filebank/published_article/4120/Fulltext7.pdf
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Stamm, Andreas & Altenburg, Tilman & Müngersdorff, Maximilian & Stoffel, Tim & Vrolijk, Kasper, 2019. "Soziale und ökologische Herausforderungen der globalen Textilwirtschaft: Lösungsbeiträge der deutschen Entwicklungszusammenarbeit," EconStor Research Reports 209119, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    2. Angie Ngoc Tran & Søren Jeppesen, 2016. "SMEs in their Own Right: The Views of Managers and Workers in Vietnamese Textiles, Garment, and Footwear Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(3), pages 589-608, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    garment; linkages; markets; subcontractors; suppliers; textile; unions; workers;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • L67 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Other Consumer Nondurables: Clothing, Textiles, Shoes, and Leather Goods; Household Goods; Sports Equipment
    • L78 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Primary Products and Construction - - - Government Policy

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