No Sweat? Living Standards and Sweatshop Wages in Developing Countries
23 Pages Posted: 16 May 2023
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
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