The Global Labor Institute is leading research and new conversations about work in global supply chains. We use data and quantitative analysis to identify what works to improve working conditions and advance labor rights.
Research
Research from the Global Labor Institute: Sustainable Labor Practices in Global Supply Chains
Waiting Game: Minimum wage-setting in Bangladesh's apparel industry
This policy brief aimed at policymakers, unions, brands and employers discusses Bangladesh's minimum wage setting system, looking at its impact on workers and Bangladesh's global competitiveness.
ILR Review: 'Between Legitimacy and Cost: Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining Rights in Global Supply Chains'
In 'Between Legitimacy and Cost,' Sarosh Kuruvilla, Chunyun Li and Jinsun Bae identify the ways supplier factories strategically comply with freedom of association and collective bargaining requirements by analyzing data from factories in the ILO’s Better Work program between 2015-2021.
Hot Air: How will fashion adapt to accelerating climate change?
This report looks at 23 global apparel production centers and analyzes how heat and flooding have already changed and gotten worse over the past two decades, and recommends changes and adaptations for the already-supercharged climate.
Higher Ground? Climate change and apparel production
This brief for apparel brands and manufacturers—based on analyses by the Cornell University Global Labor Institute and U.K.-based fund manager Schroders—looks into fashion’s near future to calculate the possible economic damage caused by high heat, rising humidity, and disruptive flooding.
Eliminating Gender-based Violence and Harassment in Global Supply Chains
We present here our analysis of processes and outcomes in year 2 of the operation of the agreement, as a prelude to a more comprehensive evaluation in 2025 when the agreement expires.
Recent Publication by Sarosh Kuruvilla: Shifting Modes of Labor Regulation in Global Supply Chains
This essay outlines changing modes of regulation of labor conditions in global apparel supply chains, which are concentrated in Asia; assesses the effectiveness of 25 years of private voluntary regulation by global firms; and examines critically the implications of new European regulation now mandating what was previously a voluntary corporate activity.
In partnership with Schroders, we report the impacts of climate change on global apparel production. In our first report, we track climate change impacts at the global, national, and factory levels. Our second report examines company-level climate risk, cost, and financing for adaption and just resilience.
A new working paper by the Global Labor Institute delves into the lessons learned by the apparel industry during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores how to better handle future crises.
Global Apparel Supply Chain Factory Workers Walk When Wage Codes Are Violated
Research from Professor Sarosh Kuruvilla shows that factory workers in the global apparel supply chain are more likely to quit over low wages than other poor working conditions.
Corporate Codes of Conduct and Labour Turnover in Global Apparel Supply Chains
Research on private regulation of labour issues in global supply chains has focused extensively on whether supplier factories comply with the codes of conduct of global companies. Less is known about how such compliance relates to the preferences and behaviours of workers at export factories.
Private Regulation of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains
This paper, published as a chapter in the International Labor Organization's 2021 volume: Decent Work in a Globalized Economy, shares Professor Sarosh Kuruvilla and the New Conversations Project's new research on the limited progress of private regulation over a decade in multiple countries
The New Conversations Project is publishing a limited series in the Sourcing Journal on latest research findings related to private regulation. These pieces are designed to de-code important new academic research for actors in the global supply chain.
Social Dialogue in the 21st Century Project Reports
The Social Dialogue in the 21st Century Project published ten country reports - plus the NCP Synthesis Report - on obstacles to social dialogue in the global garment supply chain.
Draft Working Paper (ILO/GLI) "Beneath the surface: Review of literature and initiatives for identification of forced labour in fishing" (2020)
This Working Paper drafted with support from ILO Fundamentals identifies and brings together what is already known about obstacles to identifying fishers in forced labour and key knowledge gaps in this regard.
Social Sustainability in Global Supply Chains: An Empirical Investigation of Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining
In this article, we seek empirical answers to two research questions: a) What are the typical violations of FOA and CB rights in global supply chains that must be corrected for workers to exercise their voice?
The New Conversations Project has published a new research brief with the ILO assessing the impact of COVID-19 on the apparel industry in Asia and the Pacific.
