Human Rights Violations in Global Value Chains
A Locally Grounded Governance Framework
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21465118 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Myriam C Rapior (0000-0002-6028-8478, Universität Hamburg, corresponding author), Marc Oberhauser (0000-0001-5736-7098, ESCP Business School) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 203 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 27-54 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Business Ethics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0167-4544 • E-ISSN: 1573-0697 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10551-025-06025-6 |
| OpenAlex | W4410707063 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 65 |
Social governance models of global value chains (GVCs) are criticized as being dominated by advanced economy multinational corporations (MNCs) and primarily focusing on civil society organizations (CSOs) from developed countries, marginalizing the local agency, knowledge, and needs of rightsholders at the producing end of the GVC. These traditional governance frameworks often reinforce corporate power by framing compliance as a linear, top-down mandate. We address these shortcomings in the literature by proposing a locally grounded governance framework that accounts for vulnerable rightsholders who are often sidelined or underrepresented. The study is based on an inductive qualitative analysis of 54 interviews with CSOs operating in rightsholders’ home countries, MNCs’ home countries, and globally. Our study contributes in two major ways. First, we develop a theoretical model that conceptualizes a shift from a static, meeting-minimum-legal-standards, compliance-driven model to an adaptive, locally grounded GVC governance framework that is genuinely collaborative and can evolve with local insights. Second, we theorize a shift from a linear top-down framework that reinforces corporate power to an iterative process in which the dynamics of conflict and collaboration interact and shape the outcomes of the governance model
Business · Business ethics · Corporate governance · Human rights · Political science · Public relations · Quality of Life Research · Sociology · Corporate Law and Human Rights · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · Law · Mathematics · Regulation and Compliance Studies
Corporate Social Responsibility in Global Value Chains
Using the Gioia Methodology in international business and entrepreneurship research
Economic and Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains and Industrial Clusters
Toward a political conception of corporate responsibility
Corporate Legitimacy as Deliberation
Corporations and NGOs
Seeking Qualitative Rigor in Inductive Research
Extending Social Sustainability to Suppliers
The Interplay Between Supply Chain Transparency and NGO Pressure
Building Common Ground
Theorizing Effective (Preventative) Remedy
Modern Slavery Disclosure Regulation and Global Supply Chains
Rightsholder-Driven Remedy for Business-Related Human Rights Abuse
Ethics at the Centre of Global and Local Challenges
Civil Society Roles in CSR Legislation
A critical perspective on corporate social responsibility
Betting on the Wrong (Trojan) Horse
The Overlooked Advantages of the Independent Monitoring and Complaint Investigation System in the Worker-driven Social Responsibility Model in US Agriculture
Company-created remedy mechanisms for serious human rights abuses
Transnational power and translocal governance
Safeguarding labour in distant factories
Multinational Corporations and Local Communities
Confronting extractivism - the role of local struggles in the (un)making of place
Corporate social responsibility
Rethinking Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains
Eliminating Corporate Exploitation
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |