Buyer Engagement and Labour Conditions in Global Supply Chains

The Bangladesh Accord and Beyond

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4933976
AutoresChikako Oka (0000-0002-1884-6368, Royal Holloway University of London), Niklas Egels‐zandén (University of Gothenburg), Rachel Alexander (0000-0002-7139-7709, London School of Economics and Political Science)
Ano2020
Volume51
Fascículo5
Páginas1306-1330
Data de publicação2020-09-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoDevelopment and Change (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0012-155X • E-ISSN: 1467-7660
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/dech.12575
OpenAlexW3006698162
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas10
Referências citadas30

The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh ('the Accord') has received both praise and criticism concerning its implications for corporate responsibility and power. This article contributes to the debate by situating the Accord within a broader set of activities that buyers are engaged in to promote better labour conditions in their supply chains. The authors identify three approaches of buyer engagement: auditing, capacity building and advocacy. Drawing on interviews conducted with European brands and retailers, the article shows how buyers perceive the merits and challenges of these approaches, and whether and how they discharge responsibility and power through these activities. The study shows that the Accord is seen primarily as part of the auditing approach with a key feature being its use of collective leverage as a means of enforcement. While greater buyer power has not necessarily been accompanied by greater responsibility, the article highlights heterogeneity among buyers in how they take up different approaches, painting a more nuanced picture of buyer responsibility and power

Audit · Business · Corporate social responsibility · Criticism · Economics · Enforcement · Law and economics · Leverage (statistics) · Political science · Power (physics) · Praise · Public relations · Supply chain · Accounting · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · Innovation and Socioeconomic Development · Law · Marketing · Social Psychology · Supply Chain Resilience and Risk Management