International Trade and Labor Standards

International Trade and Labor Standards
Author: Christian Barry
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2008-07-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0231512961

Progressive governments in poor countries fear that if they undertake measures to enhance real wages and working conditions, rising labor costs would cause wealthier countries to import from and invest elsewhere. Yet if the world trading system were designed to facilitate or even reward measures to promote labor standards, poor countries could undertake them without fear. In this book, Christian Barry and Sanjay G. Reddy propose ways in which the international trading system can support poor countries in promoting the well-being of their peoples. Reforms to the trading system can lessen the collective-action problem among poor countries, increasing their freedom to pursue policy that better serves the interests of their people. Incorporating the right kind of linkage between trading opportunities and the promotion of labor standards could empower countries, allowing them greater effective sovereignty and enabling them to improve the circumstances of the less advantaged. Barry and Reddy demonstrate how linkage can be made acceptable to all players, and they carefully defend these ideas against those who might initially disagree. Their volume is accessible to general readers but draws on sophisticated economic and philosophical arguments and includes responses from leading labor activists, economists, and philosophers, including Kyle Bagwell, Robert Goodin, Rohini Hensman, and Roberto Mangabeira Unger.

International Labor Standards and International Trade

International Labor Standards and International Trade
Author: Mr.Stephen S. Golub
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 38
Release: 1997-04-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1451845537

This paper reviews controversies regarding linkage of international trade and labor standards. Pressures for international harmonization of labor standards arise in the context of increased trade between countries with large disparities in wages, and also reflect the history of labor standards. A critical distinction is made between standards related to fundamental human rights and those related to employment conditions. The main conclusion is that trade sanctions to enforce labor standards should not be an option, but that international agreements on core labor standards, with voluntary compliance, may, apart from being worthwhile on ethical grounds, defuse calls for protection.

Can Labor Standards Improve Under Globalization?

Can Labor Standards Improve Under Globalization?
Author: Kimberly Ann Elliott
Publisher: Peterson Institute for International Economics
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2003
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

In this study, the authors move beyond the debate on the relative merits and risks of a social clause in trade agreements and focus on practical approaches for improving labour standards in a more intergrated global economy.

Assessment of Labour Provisions in Trade and Investment Arrangements

Assessment of Labour Provisions in Trade and Investment Arrangements
Author: International Labor Office
Publisher: International Labor Office
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2016
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Nearly half of trade agreements concluded in the past five years included either a labor chapter or labor provision that makes reference to international labor standards and ILO instruments. The evidence so far suggests that labor provisions have been an important tool for raising awareness and improving laws and legislations with respect to workers' rights, increasing stakeholder involvement in negotiation and implementation phases, and developing domestic institutions to better monitor and enforce labor standards. But challenges remain, particularly with respect to sustainability of impacts, coherence, and cooperative efforts. This new report, part of the Studies on Growth with Equity series, gives a full examination of the scope and effectiveness of these labor provisions.

Monitoring International Labor Standards

Monitoring International Labor Standards
Author: National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Monitoring International Labor Standards
Publisher: National Academy Press
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2004-05-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

"The book offers a first step toward the goal of providing an empirical foundation to monitor compliance with core labor standards. It provides a roadmap to existing data sources, their relevance to defined labor standards, their utility to decision makers in charge of assessing or monitoring compliance, and the cautions necessary to understand and use the information. It is resource for anyone working on international labor issues."--BOOK JACKET.

Globalization And International Trade Policies

Globalization And International Trade Policies
Author: Robert M Stern
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 794
Release: 2009-09-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9814477125

This book brings together a collection of papers that Robert M Stern and his co-authors have written in recent years. The collection addresses a variety of issues pertinent to the global trading system. One group of papers deals with globalization in terms of what the public needs to know about this phenomenon and the role of the World Trade Organization (WTO), whether some countries may be hurt by globalization, how global market integration relates to national sovereignty, and how and whether considerations of fairness are and should be dealt with in the global trading system and WTO negotiations. A second group of papers consists of analytical and computational modeling studies of multilateral, regional, and bilateral trading arrangements and negotiations from a global and national perspective for the United States and other major trading countries. The remaining papers include an empirical analysis of barriers to international services transactions and the consequences of liberalization, and issues of international trade and labor standards.