IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ilrrev/v72y2019i3p606-635.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Multinationals’ Compliance with Employment Law: An Empirical Assessment Using Administrative Data from Ontario, 2004 to 2015

Author

Listed:
  • Dionne Pohler
  • Chris Riddell

Abstract

This study contributes new evidence to the literature on multinational corporation (MNC) behavior by exploring three related questions: 1) Do MNCs comply with local employment laws in a developed country? 2) To the extent that compliance varies across MNCs, what factors are important in shaping compliance? 3) Is there a “foreignness†effect for MNCs operating in developed countries, and does this effect vary according to country-of-origin and/or union status? To investigate these questions, the authors compiled unique firm-level administrative data on MNC compliance with regulatory and quasi-regulatory employment practices during mass layoffs in Ontario, Canada. Adopting a research design that uses the behavior of Canadian MNCs as the comparison group, their key findings suggest that unions are a very robust predictor of compliance across all foreign MNCs and systematic country-of-origin effects on MNC compliance are present only in non-unionized workplaces.

Suggested Citation

  • Dionne Pohler & Chris Riddell, 2019. "Multinationals’ Compliance with Employment Law: An Empirical Assessment Using Administrative Data from Ontario, 2004 to 2015," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 72(3), pages 606-635, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:72:y:2019:i:3:p:606-635
    DOI: 10.1177/0019793918788837
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0019793918788837
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0019793918788837?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lucas Ronconi, 2010. "Enforcement and Compliance with Labor Regulations in Argentina," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 63(4), pages 719-736, July.
    2. Gary S. Becker, 1974. "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach," NBER Chapters, in: Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment, pages 1-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Linxiang Ye & TH Gindling & Shi Li, 2015. "Compliance with legal minimum wages and overtime pay regulations in China," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-35, December.
    4. Chikako Oka, 2016. "Improving Working Conditions in Garment Supply Chains: The Role of Unions in Cambodia," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(3), pages 647-672, September.
    5. Paul Marginson & Jonathan Lavelle & Javier Quintanilla & Duncan Adam & Rocío Sánchez-Mangas, 2013. "Variation in Approaches to European Works Councils in Multinational Companies," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 66(3), pages 618-644, May.
    6. Haroon Bhorat & Ravi Kanbur & Natasha Mayet, 2012. "Estimating the Causal Effect of Enforcement on Minimum Wage Compliance: The Case of S outh A frica," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 608-623, November.
    7. John W. Budd & Brian P. McCall, 1997. "The Effect of Unions on the Receipt of Unemployment Insurance Benefits," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 50(3), pages 478-492, April.
    8. Sébastien Breau & W. Mark Brown, 2011. "Exporting, Foreign Direct Investment, and Wages: Evidence from the Canadian Manufacturing Sector," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 261-286, September.
    9. Barry T. Hirsch & David A. MacPherson & J. Michael Dumond, 1997. "Workers#x0027; Compensation Recipiency in Union and Nonunion Workplaces," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 50(2), pages 213-236, January.
    10. Andrés MARINAKIS, 2016. "Non-compliance with minimum wage laws in Latin America: The importance of institutional factors," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 155(1), pages 133-156, March.
    11. Mark Harcourt & Geoffrey Wood & Sondra Harcourt, 2004. "Do Unions Affect Employer Compliance with the Law? New Zealand Evidence for Age Discrimination," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 42(3), pages 527-541, September.
    12. Denk, Nikola & Kaufmann, Lutz & Roesch, Jan-Frederik, 2012. "Liabilities of Foreignness Revisited: A Review of Contemporary Studies and Recommendations for Future Research," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 322-334.
    13. Mike Geppert & Karen Williams & Dirk Matten, 2003. "The Social Construction of Contextual Rationalities in MNCs: An Anglo‐German Comparison of Subsidiary Choice," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 617-641, May.
    14. Robert G. Blanton & Shannon L. Blanton, 2012. "Labor Rights and Foreign Direct Investment: Is There a Race to the Bottom?," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(3), pages 267-294, July.
    15. Ashenfelter, Orley & Smith, Robert S, 1979. "Compliance with the Minimum Wage Law," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(2), pages 333-350, April.
    16. Chikako Oka, 2010. "Accounting for the Gaps in Labour Standard Compliance: The Role of Reputation-Conscious Buyers in the Cambodian Garment Industry," Post-Print hal-02952241, HAL.
    17. Chikako Oka, 2010. "Accounting for the Gaps in Labour Standard Compliance: The Role of Reputation-Conscious Buyers in the Cambodian Garment Industry," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 22(1), pages 59-78, February.
    18. Breau, Sébastien Brown, W. Mark, 2011. "Global Links: Exporting, Foreign Direct Investment, and Wages: Evidence from the Canadian Manufacturing Sector," The Canadian Economy in Transition 2011021e, Statistics Canada, Economic Analysis Division.
    19. Locke, Richard M. & Qin, Fei & Brause, Alberto, 2007. "Does monitoring improve labor standards? Lessons from Nike," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 59405, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Heather Berry & Mauro F Guillén & Nan Zhou, 2010. "An institutional approach to cross-national distance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(9), pages 1460-1480, December.
    21. Carpenter, Daniel P., 1996. "Adaptive Signal Processing, Hierarchy, and Budgetary Control in Federal Regulation," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 90(2), pages 283-302, June.
    22. Robert Salomon & Zheying Wu, 2012. "Institutional distance and local isomorphism strategy," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(4), pages 343-367, May.
    23. Phillip M Rosenzweig & Nitin Nohria, 1994. "Influences on Human Resource Management Practices in Multinational Corporations," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 25(2), pages 229-251, June.
    24. Carol Agocs & Bob Osborne, 2009. "Comparing Equity Policies in Canada and Northern Ireland: Policy Learning in Two Directions?," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 35(2), pages 237-262, June.
    25. Matthew Potoski & Aseem Prakash, 2005. "Green Clubs and Voluntary Governance: ISO 14001 and Firms' Regulatory Compliance," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(2), pages 235-248, April.
    26. Chikako Oka, 2016. "Improving working conditions in garment supply chains: The role of unions in Cambodia," Post-Print hal-02952169, HAL.
    27. Paul K. Edwards & Rocío Sánchez-Mangas & Olga Tregaskis & Christian Lévesque & Anthony McDonnell & Javier Quintanilla, 2013. "Human Resource Management Practices in the Multinational Company: A Test of System, Societal, and Dominance Effects," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 66(3), pages 588-617, May.
    28. Richard LOCKE & Thomas KOCHAN & Monica ROMIS & Fei QIN, 2007. "Beyond corporate codes of conduct: Work organization and labour standards at Nike's suppliers," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 146(1-2), pages 21-40, March.
    29. Joanna Tochman Campbell & Lorraine Eden & Stewart R Miller, 2012. "Multinationals and corporate social responsibility in host countries: Does distance matter?," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(1), pages 84-106, January.
    30. Trejo, Stephen J, 1993. "Overtime Pay, Overtime Hours, and Labor Unions," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(2), pages 253-278, April.
    31. Thite, Mohan & Wilkinson, Adrian & Shah, Dhara, 2012. "Internationalization and HRM strategies across subsidiaries in multinational corporations from emerging economies—A conceptual framework," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 251-258.
    32. Uma RANI & Patrick BELSER & Martin OELZ & Setareh RANJBAR, 2013. "Minimum wage coverage and compliance in developing countries," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 152(3-4), pages 381-410, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. David Jancsics & Salvador Espinosa & Jonathan Carlos, 2023. "Organizational noncompliance: an interdisciplinary review of social and organizational factors," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 1273-1301, September.
    2. Jirjahn, Uwe, 2024. "Corporate Globalization and Worker Representation," IZA Discussion Papers 16727, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Panicker, Vidya Sukumara & Georgiadou, Elena & Hodgkinson, Ian R., 2024. "Generous to a fault: Differential impact of CSR investments on financial gains in Indian market multinationals," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(3).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jean-Christophe Graz & Nicole Helmerich & Cécile Prébandier, 2020. "Hybrid Production Regimes and Labor Agency in Transnational Private Governance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 307-321, March.
    2. Mario Bossler & Ursula Jaenichen & Simeon Schächtele, 2022. "How effective are enforcement measures for compliance with the minimum wage? Evidence from Germany," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(2), pages 943-971, May.
    3. Ronconi, Lucas & Zarazaga S.J., Rodrigo, 2015. "Labor Exclusion and the Erosion of Citizenship Responsibilities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 453-461.
    4. Andrea Garnero, 2018. "The dog that barks doesn’t bite: coverage and compliance of sectoral minimum wages in Italy," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-24, December.
    5. Rickley, Marketa & Karim, Samina, 2018. "Managing institutional distance: Examining how firm-specific advantages impact foreign subsidiary CEO staffing," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(5), pages 740-751.
    6. Clemens, Jeffrey & Strain, Michael R., 2022. "Understanding “Wage Theft”: Evasion and avoidance responses to minimum wage increases," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    7. Mansoor, Kashif & O'Neill, Donal, 2020. "Minimum Wage Compliance and Household Welfare: An Analysis of over 1500 Minimum Wages," IZA Discussion Papers 13298, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Tobias Haepp & Carl Lin, 2017. "How Does the Minimum Wage Affect Firm Investments in Fixed and Human Capital? Evidence from China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 1057-1080, November.
    9. Jesper Edman, 2016. "Reconciling the advantages and liabilities of foreignness: Towards an identity-based framework," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 47(6), pages 674-694, August.
    10. Jane W. Lu & Hao Ma & Xuanli Xie, 2022. "Foreignness research in international business: Major streams and future directions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(3), pages 449-480, April.
    11. Andrés Ham, 2015. "Minimum wage violations in Honduras," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-19, December.
    12. Mansoor, Kashif & O'Neill, Donal, 2021. "Minimum wage compliance and household welfare: An analysis of over 1500 minimum wages in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    13. Ganserer, Angelika, 2021. "Non-compliance with temporary agency work regulations: Initial evidence from Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-057, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    14. Lazarova, Mila & Peretz, Hilla & Fried, Yitzhak, 2017. "Locals know best? Subsidiary HR autonomy and subsidiary performance," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 83-96.
    15. White, George O. & Rajwani, Tazeeb & Krammer, Sorin M.S., 2022. "Legal distance and entrepreneurial orientation of foreign subsidiaries: Evidence from Southeast Asia," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(6).
    16. Karolina GORAUS‐TAŃSKA & Piotr LEWANDOWSKI, 2019. "Minimum wage violation in central and eastern Europe," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 158(2), pages 297-336, June.
    17. Byung Il Park & Sungjin J. Hong & Shufeng Simon Xiao, 2022. "Institutional pressure and MNC compliance to prevent bribery: empirical examinations in South Korea and China," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(4), pages 623-656, September.
    18. Ravi KANBUR & Lucas RONCONI, 2018. "Enforcement matters: The effective regulation of labour," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 157(3), pages 331-356, September.
    19. Chunyun Li & Sarosh Kuruvilla, 2023. "Corporate codes of conduct and labour turnover in global apparel supply chains," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(3), pages 481-505, September.
    20. Badaoui, Eliane & Walsh, Frank, 2022. "Productivity, non-compliance and the minimum wage," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:72:y:2019:i:3:p:606-635. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.