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IBS Lunchtime Research Seminar - Wages and Working Conditions in Global Value Chains: The Relevance of Foreign Ownership in Emerging Sourcing Destinations

Henley Live Tree
Event information
Date 30 October 2024
Time 13:00-14:30 (Timezone: Europe/London)
Price Free
Venue Henley Business School, Whiteknights Campus
Event types:
Seminars

You are cordially invited to attend an International Business and Strategy Departmental Research Meeting, during which there will be a presentation by Dr Khadija van der Straaten, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. A reminder that attendance for IBS (full time, research oriented) staff and full-time students is compulsory, and where possible, must be in person. Individuals unable to attend in person, due to legitimate reasons will be provided a Teams link on request. Non-IBS staff are welcome to attend, but must register prior to the event. If you have not received the email invite please email Angie Clark

Please join us in Room 108, Henley Business School, if you would like to attend, please register using the link below:

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Please make sure you let me know in advance if you intend to attend in person so that the correct amount of catering is booked.

Date: Wednesday 30th October 2024, HBS Room 108

Time: 13.00 - 14.15pm

Abstract:

The debate on the relationship between global value chains participation and labour conditions in manufacturing sectors takes a new turn now since sub-Saharan African economies have emerged as significant sourcing destinations. Being at lower levels of economic development, and paying significantly lower wages than most other exporting countries in the world, the question is how the insertion of these sub-Saharan African firms in Global Value Chains (GVCs) affects workers in these countries—and who reap the benefits. In this context, the foreign owners of manufacturing facilities have received little scholarly attention, in contrast to the heavily scrutinized multinational companies (“brands”) who buy from them. This paper presents an analysis of the Ethiopian apparel sector, which has sought integration in the global apparel chain exclusively on a cheap labour ticket. Based on unique worker-level data, we analyse wages and working conditions in Ethiopian apparel factories. We find that workers in foreign-owned factories producing for GVCs have significantly lower wages and freedom of association, but better occupational safety and health than their peers in factories producing for the local market. We conclude that to alleviate poverty and poor working conditions in GVCs, global buyers are not the only key players to consider

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