No Sweat? Living Standards and Sweatshop Wages in Developing Countries

23 Pages Posted: 16 May 2023

See all articles by Benjamin Powell

Benjamin Powell

Texas Tech University - Free Market Institute; Texas Tech University - Rawls College of Business

Towhid Iqram Mahmood

Texas Tech University - Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics

Date Written: May 15, 2023

Abstract

We create new data set measuring “sweatshop wages” from 2011 to 2019. We then use this data set to compare the living standards provided by sweatshop wages to other alternative living standards in the countries where sweatshops are located. Our main finding is that sweatshop pay compares favorably with widespread poverty living standards in the countries in which sweatshops operate and often even compares favorably with average living standards. This finding has welfare implications for evaluating employment tradeoffs associated with anti-sweatshop activism.

Keywords: Sweatshops, Development, Living Standards

JEL Classification: F23, F63, F66, J31

Suggested Citation

Powell, Benjamin and Mahmood, Towhid Iqram, No Sweat? Living Standards and Sweatshop Wages in Developing Countries (May 15, 2023). Free Market Institute Research Paper No. Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4449216 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4449216

Benjamin Powell (Contact Author)

Texas Tech University - Free Market Institute ( email )

Box 45059
Lubbock, TX 79409-5059
United States
806.742.7138 (Phone)
806.742.1854 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.fmi.ttu.edu

Texas Tech University - Rawls College of Business ( email )

Lubbock, TX 79409
United States
806.834.3097 (Phone)
806.742.1854 (Fax)

Towhid Iqram Mahmood

Texas Tech University - Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics ( email )

Suite 167, 2625 Memorial Circle
TTU Administration
Lubbock, TX 79409
United States

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