Has Global Trade Competition Really Led to a Race to the Bottom in Labor Standards
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6274342 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alessandro Guasti (0000-0003-1720-4301, University of Oxford), Mathias Koenig-Archibugi (0000-0003-4637-9477, London School of Economics and Political Science) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 66 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Publication date | 2022-09-15 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Studies Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-8833 • E-ISSN: 1468-2478 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/isq/sqac061 |
| OpenAlex | W4295943263 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 50 |
The possibility that economic competition puts working and employment conditions under pressure is a frequently voiced concern in debates on international trade. We provide an empirical assessment of the argument that competition for world markets has generated a race to the bottom in labor standards. Spatial econometrics is used to identify interdependence in labor practices among trade competitors. We present a strategy for measuring export competition between countries that fulfills several criteria: It reflects actual competition between firms offering similar products, rather than export similarity in relation to a few very broad product categories; it captures not only what competitor countries export but also how much; it takes into account that states are exposed to export competition to different degrees; and it focuses on the downward pressure stemming from a deterioration of labor rights protections among close competitors. To address endogeneity, we implement a two-stage least-squares (2SLS) instrumental variable approach and a difference two-stage generalized method of moments (GMM) approach. We find no evidence that export competition has triggered a race to the bottom in two samples covering most states in the world over nearly three decades. The finding is robust to a variety of alternative specifications
Argument (complex analysis · Competition (biology · Competitor analysis · Econometrics · Economics · Endogeneity · Globalization · Instrumental variable · International economics · International trade · Market economy · Product (mathematics · Race (biology · Race to the bottom · Economic Policies and Impacts · Global trade and economics · Regional Economics and Spatial Analysis
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| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 5 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |