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Regulating for corporate human rights abuses: The emergence of corporate reporting on the ILO's human rights standards within the global garment manufacturing and retail industry

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  • Islam, Muhammad Azizul
  • McPhail, Ken

Abstract

Despite the ubiquitous nature of the discourse on human rights there is currently little research on the emergence of disclosure by multinational corporations on their human rights obligations or the regulatory dynamic that may lie behind this trend. In an attempt to begin to explore the extent to which, if any, the language of human rights has entered the discourse of corporate accountability, this paper investigates the adoption of the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) human rights standards by major multinational garment retail companies that source products from developing countries, as disclosed through their reporting media. The paper has three objectives. Firstly, to empirically explore the extent to which a group of multinational garment retailers invoke the language of human rights when disclosing their corporate responsibilities. The paper reviews corporate reporting media including social responsibility codes of conduct, annual reports and stand-alone social responsibility reports released by 18 major global clothing and retail companies during a period from 1990 to 2007. We find that the number of companies adopting and disclosing on the ILO's workplace human rights standards has significantly increased since 1998 – the year in which the ILO's standards were endorsed and accepted by the global community (ILO, 1998). Secondly, drawing on a combination of Responsive Regulation theory and neo-institutional theory, we tentatively seek to understand the regulatory space that may have influenced these large corporations to adopt the language of human rights obligations. In particular, we study the role that International Governmental Organisation's (IGO) such as ILO may have played in these disclosures. Finally, we provide some critical reflections on the power and potential within the corporate adoption of the language of human rights.

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  • Islam, Muhammad Azizul & McPhail, Ken, 2011. "Regulating for corporate human rights abuses: The emergence of corporate reporting on the ILO's human rights standards within the global garment manufacturing and retail industry," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(8), pages 790-810.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:22:y:2011:i:8:p:790-810
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2011.07.003
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    3. Salawati Sahari & Noradiva Hamzah & Mohamat Sabri Hassan & Mara Ridhuan Che Abdul Rahman, 2018. "The Development of a Human Rights Disclosure Index," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 8(5), pages 459-479, May.
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    7. Suraiyah Akbar & Craig Deegan, 2021. "Analysis of corporate social disclosures of the apparel industry following crisis: an institutional approach," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 3565-3600, June.
    8. Deegan, Craig, 2017. "Twenty five years of social and environmental accounting research within Critical Perspectives of Accounting: Hits, misses and ways forward," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 65-87.
    9. Belal, Ataur Rahman & Cooper, Stuart M. & Roberts, Robin W., 2013. "Vulnerable and exploitable: The need for organisational accountability and transparency in emerging and less developed economies," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 81-91.
    10. Mitzi Cubilla‐Montilla & Ana‐Belén Nieto‐Librero & Ma Purificación Galindo‐Villardón & Ma Purificación Vicente Galindo & Isabel‐María Garcia‐Sanchez, 2019. "Are cultural values sufficient to improve stakeholder engagement human and labour rights issues?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 938-955, July.
    11. Deegan, Craig & Islam, Muhammad Azizul, 2014. "An exploration of NGO and media efforts to influence workplace practices and associated accountability within global supply chains," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 397-415.
    12. Jane Andrew & Max Baker, 2020. "Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: The Last 40 Years and a Path to Sharing Future Insights," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 56(1), pages 35-65, March.
    13. Isabel María García‐Sánchez & María‐Elena Gómez‐Miranda & Fátima David & Lazaro Rodríguez‐Ariza, 2019. "Analyst coverage and forecast accuracy when CSR reports improve stakeholder engagement: The Global Reporting Initiative‐International Finance Corporation disclosure strategy," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1392-1406, November.
    14. Kishore Kumar & Ajai Prakash, 2019. "Examination of sustainability reporting practices in Indian banking sector," Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-16, December.
    15. Ahmad, Nglaa & Haque, Shamima & Islam, Muhammad Azizul, 2024. "Modern slavery disclosure regulations in the global supply Chain: A world-systems perspective," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
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    17. Muhammad Azizul Islam & Shamima Haque & Thusitha Dissanayake & Philomena Leung & Karen Handley, 2015. "Corporate Disclosure in Relation to Combating Corporate Bribery: A Case Study of Two Chinese Telecommunications Companies," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 25(3), pages 309-326, September.
    18. Lopatta, Kerstin & Tideman, Sebastian A. & Scheil, Carolin & Makarem, Naser, 2023. "The current state of corporate human rights disclosure of the global top 500 business enterprises: Measurement and determinants," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    19. Wettstein, Florian & Giuliani, Elisa & Santangelo, Grazia D. & Stahl, Günter K., 2019. "International business and human rights: A research agenda," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 54-65.
    20. Jeroen van der Heijden, 2021. "Why meta‐research matters to regulation and governance scholarship: An illustrative evidence synthesis of responsive regulation research," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(S1), pages 123-142, November.
    21. Rogerson, Michael & Scarpa, Francesco & Snelson-Powell, Annie, 2024. "Accounting for human rights: Evidence of due diligence in EU-listed firms’ reporting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    22. Frank Hubers & Thomas Thijssens, 2023. "Protect, respect, remedy, and report? Development of human rights reporting in the context of formal institutional settings," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(6), pages 2783-2798, November.
    23. Muhammad Azizul Islam & Craig Deegan & Rob Gray, 2018. "Social compliance audits and multinational corporation supply chain: evidence from a study of the rituals of social audits," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(2), pages 190-224, February.
    24. Walaa Wahid ElKelish*, 2023. "Accounting for Corporate Human Rights: Literature Review and Future Insights," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 33(2), pages 203-226, June.
    25. Stephanie BARRIENTOS & Lara BIANCHI & Cindy BERMAN, 2019. "Gender and governance of global value chains: Promoting the rights of women workers," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 158(4), pages 729-752, December.

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