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Labour Standards Application among Multinational and Domestic Firms in Ghana’s Manufacturing

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  • Angela Dziedzom Akorsu

Abstract

This paper provides an empirical analysis of the labour standards application patterns and influences among multinational and domestic firms in Ghana. Discourses on labour standards application have continued to attract much interest in recent years. This is because globalization, in tandem with multinational corporations, has made the application of labour standards more challenging and ever more relevant. Yet competing viewpoints raised among social scientists on the subject are inconclusive and still on-going. While some are of the view that multinational companies (MNCs) maintain higher labour standards than the domestic firms of their host countries, others concede that their standards are lower due to their exploitative tendencies. By means of a survey of 248 multinational and domestic firms in the manufacturing sector of Ghana, this paper concludes that there are a number of contingent factors that determine labour standards application, and so it is misleading to put all firms together and make blanket statements as to whether or not one group maintains higher labour standards than the other.

Suggested Citation

  • Angela Dziedzom Akorsu, 2011. "Labour Standards Application among Multinational and Domestic Firms in Ghana’s Manufacturing," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 56(189), pages 51-68, April – J.
    • Handle: RePEc:beo:journl:v:56:y:2011:i:189:p:51-68
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Drusilla K. Brown & Alan V. Deardorff & Robert M. Stern, 2009. "The Effects of Multinational Production on Wages and Working Conditions in Developing Countries," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization And International Trade Policies, chapter 17, pages 623-687, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. Mandle,Jay R., 2003. "Globalization and the Poor," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521893527, October.
    3. Aminu Mamman & Nabil Baydoun & Kui Liu, 2009. "Exploring the Meanings of Globalization in Beijing," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 10(1), pages 67-86, January.
    4. Debora Spar, 1999. "Foreign Investment and Human Rights," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(1), pages 55-80, January.
    5. Maskus, Keith E., 1997. "Should core labor standards be imposed through international trade policy?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1817, The World Bank.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Mitterbacher, Kerstin & Fleiß, Jürgen & Palan, Stefan, 2024. "Reciprocity in migration policy and labor market integration: A lab experiment," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1-16.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labour Standards; Multinational Corporations; Domestic firms; Manufacturing; Ghana;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J80 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - General
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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