This paper critiques The Regulation of Labor, an empirical study recently published by Juan C. Botero, Simeon Djankov, Rafael La Porta, Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes, and Andrei Shleifer in the Quarterly Journal of Economics. The Regulation of Labor extends these authors' comparative research to...

Several major trade agreements in recent years have included a provision that addresses labor standards. Other trade agreements that are now in the discussion stage are considering incorporating labor standards as an integral part of the final agreement. The goals of such agreements are noble -...

Various groups have been demanding that discussions of labor standards be included in all future trade negotiations. The press is full of stories of alleged exploitation of child labor and other employment abuses in developing countries and human rights groups have demanded that something be...

How do labor standards develop in countries after international labor conventions are ratified? Previous studies suggest that despite high ratification rates, the protection of labor rights is not enhanced. Using panel data on both de jure and de facto labor conditions for 132 countries from...

This chapter deals with the question of whether labour standards are less relevant or more relevant for the new world of work which is vastly different from the old world of work when most labour standards were first established. The various rationales for labour standards are first outlined....

Halima is an 11-year-old girl who clips loose threads off of Hanes underwear in a Bangladeshi factory. She works about eight hours a day, six days per week. She has to process 150 pairs of underwear an hour. At work she feels “very tired and exhausted,” and sometimes falls asleep standing...

We investigate the regulation of labor markets through employment laws, collective bargaining laws, and social security laws in 85 countries. We find that richer countries regulate labor less than poorer countries do, although they have more generous social security systems. The political power...

The paper delves into the ways in which EU competition law affects the right of workers to combine with each other and act, collectively, in the furtherance of their rights and interests at work, in particular by means of collective agreements concluded with one or more employers. It begins by...

This paper is composed of two parts. First, using international data, I corroborate that union density in the U.S. declined because of asymmetric growth between the union and nonunion sectors. I show union density to increase in countries experiencing strong manufacturing growth, and to decline...

This paper is composed of two parts. First, using international data, I corroborate that union density in the U.S. declined because of asymmetric growth between the union and nonunion sectors. I show union density to increase in countries experiencing strong manufacturing growth, and to decline...