scholarly journals Modern Slavery Disclosure Regulation and Global Supply Chains: Insights from Stakeholder Narratives on the UK Modern Slavery Act

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Azizul Islam ◽  
Chris J. Van Staden
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Disclosure Regulation ◽  
Social Activists ◽  
Corporate Transparency ◽  
Modern Slavery ◽  
National Boundaries ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Transparency And Disclosure

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to problematise a particular social transparency and disclosure regulation in the UK, that transcend national boundaries in order to control (modern) slavery in supply chains operating in the developing world. Drawing on notions from the regulatory and sociology literature, i.e. transparency and normativity, and by interviewing anti-slavery activists and experts, this study explores the limitations of the disclosure and transparency requirements of the UK Modern Slavery Act and, more specifically, how anti-slavery activists experience and interpret the new regulations and the regulators’ implementation of the regulation. This research found limited confidence among anti-slavery activists regarding the Act’s call for transparency in relation to the elimination of slavery from global supply chains. The research also found that the limits of the transparency provisions within the Act appear to hinder the attainment of normativity. This study provides new and unique insights into the critical role that social activists play in exposing the lack of corporate transparency and failures of responsibility to protect workers within global supply chains.

On the Anti-Bribery “Watchlist”: Compliance and Labor/Anti-Trafficking Issues

2019 ◽  
pp. 675-696
Author(s):  
Andrew Boutros
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Child Labor ◽  
Forced Labor ◽  
Labor Laws ◽  
Labor Practices ◽  
Modern Slavery ◽  
Federal Contracts ◽  
The Uk

Today’s companies must understand and prevent the myriad problems flowing from labor issues. Increasingly demanding, serious compliance attention and resources are now being focused on the emerging area of human anti-trafficking and forced labor laws and regulations as they relate to business supply chains. These mandates include the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, the Executive Order on Strengthening Protections Against Trafficking in Persons in Federal Contracts, and the UK Modern Slavery Act of 2015. By enlisting or conscripting companies into the fight against human trafficking, child labor, and other “forced” or “coerced” labor practices, these laws introduce a wholly new compliance reality requiring accountability and supply chain compliance.

Organisational responses to mandatory modern slavery disclosure legislation: a failure of experimentalist governance?

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 1505-1534
Author(s):  
Michael Rogerson ◽  
Andrew Crane ◽  
Vivek Soundararajan ◽  
Johanne Grosvold ◽  
Charles H. Cho
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Mandatory Reporting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Modern Slavery ◽  
Improve Compliance ◽  
Experimentalist Governance ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Board Level

PurposeThis paper investigates how organisations are responding to mandatory modern slavery disclosure legislation. Experimentalist governance suggests that organisations faced with disclosure requirements such as those contained in the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 will compete with one another, and in doing so, improve compliance. The authors seek to understand whether this is the case.Design/methodology/approachThis study is set in the UK public sector. The authors conduct interviews with over 25% of UK universities that are within the scope of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 and examine their reporting and disclosure under that legislation.FindingsThe authors find that, contrary to the logic of experimentalist governance, universities' disclosures as reflected in their modern slavery statements are persistently poor on detail, lack variation and have led to little meaningful action to tackle modern slavery. They show that this is due to a herding effect that results in universities responding as a sector rather than independently; a built-in incapacity to effectively manage supply chains; and insufficient attention to the issue at the board level. The authors also identity important boundary conditions of experimentalist governance.Research limitations/implicationsThe generalisability of the authors’ findings is restricted to the public sector.Practical implicationsIn contexts where disclosure under the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 is not a core offering of the sector, and where competition is limited, there is little incentive to engage in a “race to the top” in terms of disclosure. As such, pro-forma compliance prevails and the effectiveness of disclosure as a tool to drive change in supply chains to safeguard workers is relatively ineffective. Instead, organisations must develop better knowledge of their supply chains and executives and a more critical eye for modern slavery to be combatted effectively. Accountants and their systems and skills can facilitate this development.Originality/valueThis is the first investigation of the organisational processes and activities which underpin disclosures related to modern slavery disclosure legislation. This paper contributes to the accounting and disclosure modern slavery literature by investigating public sector organisations' processes, activities and responses to mandatory reporting legislation on modern slavery.

Ports’ criticality in international trade and global supply-chains

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasper Verschuur ◽  
Elco Koks ◽  
Jim Hall
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Bilateral Trade ◽  
Single Port ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Final Demand ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Global Supply Chains

Abstract Ports form the backbone of the global economy. By combining a vast database of ship tracking data with bilateral trade data and input-output tables, we highlight the critical role of specific ports in global supply chains and economies. For some countries, we find that 43.5% of economic activity is dependent on trade going through a single port. The top ten global ports influence 9.3% of the global economy, of which the port of Shanghai alone embeds 1.7% of global output. Ports are even more critical in some sectors, such as the mining and quarrying sector, for which 82% of trade is transported by maritime transport. We estimate how changes in final demand will be routed through ports, revealing that for every US$1000 increase in final demand a country’s ports experience a US$18.3 increase in imports on average, and up to US$108 increase in low income countries and small islands.

Modern slavery footprints in global supply chains

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah‐Jayne Shilling ◽  
Thomas Wiedmann ◽  
Arunima Malik
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Modern Slavery

Do Voluntary Labour Initiatives Make a Difference for the Conditions of Workers in Global Supply Chains?

2010 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 561-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela K. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Minimum Standards ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Consumer Markets ◽  
Major Shift ◽  
Buyer Power ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Market Liberalism

Since the mid-1990s a plethora of voluntary labour initiatives has been introduced in global supply chains that serve northern-based consumer markets. The chief aim of these new systems of labour governance is to establish minimum standards and conditions for workers employed in the production of goods for export. This concern for labour follows a period of market liberalism, a major shift in the regulatory position of nation-states and the globalization of business. Voluntary initiatives, which largely draw on the International Labour Organization (ILO) core conventions, include codes of conduct, certifiable standards and International Framework Agreements (IFAs). The article explores the effectiveness of these initiatives in a highly concentrated industry: the banana trade. The banana trade is dominated on the production side by three North American agri-businesses: Chiquita Brands International, Dole Food Company and Fresh Del Monte Produce. Yet these businesses are increasingly being directed by international retailers, particularly in the UK, where the four major supermarket groups command access to the consumer, and comprise Tesco, ASDA (owned by Wal-Mart), J Sainsbury and Wm Morrison Supermarkets. The continuing increase of retail buyer power within global supply chains, coupled with supermarkets’ intent to respond to demands for social responsibility in the chains that serve them, raises the prospect of better conditions for workers. However, the article argues that although some improvements have been made, while supermarkets continue to drive down costs to benefit consumers, workers ultimately pay the price.

scholarly journals Companies’ contribution to sustainability through global supply chains

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (9) ◽  
pp. 2072-2077 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tannis Thorlakson ◽  
Joann F. de Zegher ◽  
Eric F. Lambin
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Wood Products ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Labor Rights ◽  
Small Subset ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Sustainability Challenges ◽  
Sustainable Sourcing

Global supply chains play a critical role in many of the most pressing environmental stresses and social struggles identified by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Responding to calls from the global community, companies are adopting a variety of voluntary practices to improve the environmental and/or social management of their suppliers’ activities. We develop a global survey of 449 publicly listed companies in the food, textile, and wood-products sectors with annual reports in English to provide insight into how the private sector contributes to advancing the SDGs via such sustainable-sourcing practices. We find that while 52% of companies use at least one sustainable-sourcing practice, these practices are limited in scope; 71% relates to only one or a few input materials and 60.5% apply to only first-tier suppliers. We also find that sustainable-sourcing practices typically address a small subset of the sustainability challenges laid out by the SDGs, primarily focusing on labor rights and compliance with national laws. Consistent with existing hypotheses, companies that face consumer and civil society pressure are associated with a significantly higher probability of adopting sustainable-sourcing practices. Our findings highlight the opportunities and limitations of corporate sustainable-sourcing practices in addressing the myriad sustainability challenges facing our world today.

scholarly journals Oxfam GB Statement on Modern Slavery for the financial year 2019/20

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Brill ◽  
Beck Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Corporate Responsibility ◽  
Initial Response ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Public Statement ◽  
Modern Slavery ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Human Rights Due Diligence

The UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires organizations with a turnover of over £36m to make a public statement on the steps they are taking to identify and prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. Oxfam GB advocated for this legislation to be enacted. In this, our fifth statement, we share our progress against the three-year objectives set last year, which focus on corporate responsibility governance, human rights due diligence and inclusion of our country programmes. Due to the particularly devastating impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, we have added a section to highlight our initial response in March 2020, which fell under this reporting period.

scholarly journals The domestic politics of corporate accountability legislation: struggles over the 2015 UK Modern Slavery Act

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 709-743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genevieve LeBaron ◽  
Andreas Rühmkorf
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Transnational Governance ◽  
Corporate Accountability ◽  
Regulatory Processes ◽  
Modern Slavery ◽  
Domestic Legislation ◽  
Labour Standards

AbstractOver the last decade, the norm of corporate accountability for labour standards in global supply chains has become increasingly prominent within the transnational governance arena. As global governance initiatives to spur due diligence for labour standards and combat exploitation in global supply chains—especially its most severe forms frequently described as modern slavery—have proliferated, societal coalitions have pressured states to pass domestic legislation to the same effect. In this article, we examine the regulatory processes that spurred the passage of one piece of anti-slavery legislation, the UK’s 2015 Modern Slavery Act. Our findings corroborate a number of established expectations regarding business opposition towards new legislation to raise public labour standards, but also provide a clearer picture of the mechanisms through which industry actors impact policymaking processes. Paradoxically, such mechanisms include business actors’ championing of weak regulatory initiatives, CSR activity and partnering with civil society organizations. Understanding industry actors’ use of these strategies improves our understanding of how transnational norms of corporate accountability and anti-slavery are being contested and shaped at domestic scales.

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