Shared Responsibility and Labor Rights in Global Supply Chains

Journal of Business Ethics, Forthcoming

47 Pages Posted: 8 Nov 2021

See all articles by Yossi Dahan

Yossi Dahan

Ramat Gan Law School - “College of Law and Business

Hanna Lerner

School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs, Tel Aviv University

Faina Milman-Sivan

University of Haifa - Faculty of Law

Date Written: October 1, 2021

Abstract

The article presents a novel normative model of shared responsibility for remedying unjust labor conditions and protecting workers’ rights in global supply chains. While existing literature on labor governance in the globalized economy tends to focus on empirical and conceptual investigations, the article contributes to the emerging scholarship by proposing moral justifications for labor governance schemes that go beyond voluntary private regulations and include public enforcement mechanisms. Drawing on normative theories of justice and on empirical-legal research, our Labor Model of Shared Responsibility introduces three main claims: first, that responsibility for protecting and promoting labor standards in global supply chains should be shared by all private and institutional actors involved (whether directly or indirectly) in the production and distribution processes. Second, we offer a normative model for allocating responsibility among the various actors, based on five principles: connectedness, contribution, benefit, capacity, and power. Last, we demonstrate how the normative model could be implemented through various national and international institutional mechanisms.

Keywords: Global justice, Responsibility, Shared responsibility, Labor rights, Globalization, Global supply chains, Global Production Networks, Sweatshops, Transnational corporations

Suggested Citation

Dahan, Yossi and Lerner, Hanna and Milman-Sivan, Faina, Shared Responsibility and Labor Rights in Global Supply Chains (October 1, 2021). Journal of Business Ethics, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3954077

Yossi Dahan

Ramat Gan Law School - “College of Law and Business ( email )

26 Ben-Gurion St.
Ramat Gan, 52275
Israel

Hanna Lerner (Contact Author)

School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs, Tel Aviv University ( email )

Tel Aviv
Israel

Faina Milman-Sivan

University of Haifa - Faculty of Law ( email )

Mount Carmel
Haifa, 31905
Israel

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