International Labor Standards History, Theory, and Policy Options

by Basu, Kaushik; Horn, Henrik; Roman, Lisa; Shapiro, Judith

• ISBN13: 9781405105569
• ISBN10: 1405105569
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-03-07
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

This book addresses the controversial call for international labor standards, seeking to productively further this debate by considering the economic implications and history of these standards. A result of an initiative by Professor Kaushik Basu in his capacity as member of the Expert Group of Development Issues (EGDI) sponsored by the Swedish Foreign Ministry, the contributions are based on discussions at a seminar held in Stockholm in August 2001. They focus on four central questions: bull; bull;How did the labor standards movement evolve in the past, and what can we learn from its history? bull;What do contemporary economic theories tell us about the possible impact of international labor standards? bull;What solid empirical evidence do economists have about the incidence, causes and effects of child labor? bull;What kind of global institutions do we have or need in order to enforce any agreement on labor standards, and what role should the ILO and WTO play? Compiling the best research in the field, this book provides a solid basis for policy decisions, while also serving as a challenging text for students in trade, development, and labor economics.

Author Biography

Kaushik Basu is Professor of Economics and Carl Marks Professor of International Studies in the Economics Department at Cornell University. He is Editor of Social Choice and Welfare and Associate Editor of The Journal of Economic Perspectives and The Journal of Development Economics. He is the author of many books and articles, including The Less Developed Economy, (Blackwell Publishers, 1984), Lectures in Industrial Organization Theory (Blackwell Publishers, 1993), and Analytical Development Economics (1997).

Henrik Horn is Professor of International Economics at Stockholm University. His current research focuses on various aspects of the WTO, with particular emphasis on the functioning of its Dispute Settlement system.

Lisa Román is the Secretary to the Expert Group on Development Issues (EGDI) and has been with the secretariat since 1999. She has a background as a development economist and is the author of Institutions in Transition: Vietnamese State Bank Reform (1999).

Judith Shapiro is Professor of Health Economics at the New Economic School, and has been a member of the EGDI since 1995. She is the author of a number of articles on Russian health, labor and mortality, and three co-authored books on transformation and integration in Eastern Europe.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures	ix
List of Acronyms	xi
List of Contributors	xii
Part I: Introduction	1	(6)
Kaushik Basu
Henrik Horn
Lisa Roman
Judith Shapiro
Part II: The Evolution of Labor Standards	7	(98)
The History and Political Economy of International Labor Standards	9	(96)
Stanley L. Engerman
Introduction	9	(1)
Categories of Labor Standards	10	(1)
The Sources of Agitation for Improved Labor Standards	11	(12)
Morals and Economics: Long-standing Arguments	23	(7)
Control and Enforcement	30	(1)
Patterns of Labor Standards Evolution	31	(5)
Early Examples of Legislation	36	(3)
The Types of Legislation	39	(21)
The Impact of Labor Standards	60	(1)
Early International Agreements	60	(6)
The International Labor Organization	66	(2)
Final Remarks	68	(1)
Appendix 1: Labor Standards in the Scandinavian Nations	69	(15)
The Parallels Between the Past and the Present	84	(1)
Jane Humphries
The Parallels Between the Past and the Present	84	(4)
The Macroeconomics of Child Labor	88	(4)
The Microeconomics of Child Labor	92	(1)
Labor Standards and Social Policy	93	(1)
Conclusion	94	(1)
Appendix: Nussbaum's List	95	(10)
Legislation Versus Bargaining Power: The Evolution of Scandinavian Labor Standards	99	(6)
Karl-Ove Moene
Michael Wallerstein
Part III: The Theory of International Labor Standards	105	(88)
The Impact of International Labor Standards: A Survey of Economic Theory	107	(86)
Nirvikar Singh
Introduction	107	(3)
Delineating Labor Standards	110	(6)
Labor Markets and Labor Standards	116	(19)
Labor Standards in the Global Economy	135	(9)
Who Decides and How?	144	(12)
What Happens to the Poor?	156	(9)
Conclusion	165	(1)
Appendix 1: Basic Competitive Model	166	(1)
Appendix 2	167	(3)
Appendix 3: Monopsony	170	(18)
Old Wine in New Bottles?	182	(5)
T.N. Srinivasan
Governing Labor Relations	187	(1)
Tore Ellingsen
Incomplete Contracts and Workers' Rights	188	(1)
Working Conditions	189	(1)
Conclusion	190	(3)
Part IV: The Issue of Child Labor	193	(78)
Child Labor: Theory, Evidence, and Policy	195	(76)
Drusilla K. Brown
Alan V. Deardorff
Robert M. Stern
Introduction	195	(1)
Theories of Child Labor: Models of Household Decisions	196	(5)
Empirical Evidence on the Determinants of Child Labor	201	(17)
Traditional Policies Targeting Child Labor and Education	218	(7)
Recent Policy Initiatives Addressing Child Labor	225	(12)
Child Labor Standards Initiatives in the International Arena	237	(4)
Conclusions	241	(13)
The Political Economy of Child Labor	248	(6)
Alan B. Krueger
Conclusion	254	(2)
Social Norms, Coordination, and Policy Issues in the Fight Against Child Labor	256	(1)
Luis-Felipe Lopez-Calva
The Role of Social Norms	256	(11)
A Comment on Policy	267	(1)
Concluding Remarks	267	(4)
Part V: The International Organization and Enforcement of Labor Standards	271	(55)
A Role for the WTO	273	(53)
Robert W. Staiger
Introduction	273	(3)
Identifying the Problems	276	(5)
The Institutional Features of the WTO and the ILO	281	(9)
The Assignment of Problems to Institutions	290	(2)
The Role of the WTO in Preventing Race-to-the-bottom/Regulatory-chill Problems	292	(6)
The Role of the WTO in Enforcing ILO Agreements	298	(4)
Evaluating the Options	302	(2)
Summary and Conclusion	304	(10)
Trade and Labor Standards: To Link or Not to Link?	309	(5)
L. Alan Winters
The Need to Micro-Manage Regulatory Diversity	314	(1)
Petros C. Mavroidis
The Argument in Staiger's Study	314	(1)
The Argument in this Commentary	314	(1)
The Function of the WTO Contract in a Nutshell	315	(5)
The Limits of the Current WTO Contract	320	(6)
Index	326