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Global Standards and the Dynamics of Environmental Compliance in India's Leather Industry

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  • Meenu Tewari
  • Poonam Pillai

Abstract

Under what conditions can small suppliers and small-firm-dominated industries comply with stringent standards without compromising their trade competitiveness? This question is at the heart of a controversial debate about the emergence of environmental standards as a new variable in global trade and market access. There are few documented cases of success and the literature remains sceptical about the ability of small supplier firms to comply with stringent environmental regulations. This paper draws on the Indian leather industry's relatively effective compliance with two German bans on Azo dyes and PCPs to argue that the supposed trade-off between environmental compliance and export competitiveness is not inevitable. Critical to India's compliance with the PCP and Azo dye ban was not merely private governance mediated by lead firms and global buyers but also the institutionalization of compliance by the Indian state, which became deeply involved in diffusing the new standards. The paper examines how and why the state got involved in ways that generated—and sustained—a process of negotiated collective action and broad-based environmental compliance by a small-firm-dominated sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Meenu Tewari & Poonam Pillai, 2005. "Global Standards and the Dynamics of Environmental Compliance in India's Leather Industry," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 245-267.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:oxdevs:v:33:y:2005:i:2:p:245-267
    DOI: 10.1080/13600810500137947
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Chandan Roy, 2012. "A Study on Environmental Compliance of Indian Leather Industry & its Far-reaching Impact on Leather Exports," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 47(2), pages 3-36, July.
    2. Chakraborty, Pavel & Chatterjee, Chirantan, 2017. "Does environmental regulation indirectly induce upstream innovation? New evidence from India," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(5), pages 939-955.
    3. Jay Joseph & John E. Katsos & Mariam Daher, 2021. "Local Business, Local Peace? Intergroup and Economic Dynamics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(4), pages 835-854, November.
    4. Mahwish J Khan & Stefano Ponte & Peter Lund-Thomsen, 2020. "The ‘factory manager dilemma’: Purchasing practices and environmental upgrading in apparel global value chains," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(4), pages 766-789, June.
    5. Roy, Chandan Roy, 2013. "An Expository Analysis on Environmental Compliance of Indian Leather Industry," MPRA Paper 47685, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Apr 2013.
    6. Valentina De Marchi & Eleonora Di Maria, 2019. "Environmental Upgrading and Suppliers’ Agency in the Leather Global Value Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-17, November.
    7. Sacchidananda Mukherjee & Debashis Chakraborty, 2007. "Environment, Human Development and Economic Growth after Liberalisation: An Analysis of Indian States," Working Papers 2007-016, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    8. Meenu Tewari, 2006. "Adjustment in India's Textile and Apparel Industry: Reworking Historical Legacies in a Post-MFA World," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 38(12), pages 2325-2344, December.
    9. Peter Lund‐Thomsen & Khalid Nadvi, 2010. "Global value chains, local collective action and corporate social responsibility: a review of empirical evidence," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(1), pages 1-13, January.
    10. Perkins, Richard & Neumayer, Eric, 2012. "Does the ‘California effect’ operate across borders? trading- and investing-up in automobile emission standards," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 42097, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Anil Hira, 2020. "Developing State Capacity: The Missing Variable for Corporate Social Responsibility?," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 36(3), pages 290-311, September.
    12. Chakraborty, Pavel & Chakrabarti, Anindya S. & Chatterjee, Chirantan, 2023. "Cross-border environmental regulation and firm labor demand," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    13. Mukherjee, Sacchidananda & Chakraborty, Debashis, 2009. "Is there any relationship between Environmental Quality Index, Human Development Index and Economic Growth? Evidences from Indian States," MPRA Paper 17207, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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