Child Labour and Consumer Responsibility: An Impact Study

Abstract

We evaluate the impact of fair trade (FT) affiliation on child labour on a sample of Chilean honey producers with a retrospective panel data approach. From a theoretical point of view we argue that, in the short run, FT acts, on both adult and child wages, as a pure income effect to which a productivity effect adds up in the medium run. The direction of the impact is therefore uncertain and requires empirical testing. Our econometric findings document a significant impact of affiliation years on child schooling after controlling for endogeneity and the heterogeneity between treatment and control sample.

Keywords: Fair Trade, Child Labor

JEL Classification: O19, O22, D64