A social conscience in the global marketplace? Labour dimensions of codes of conduct, social labelling and investor initiatives

Abstract

Codes, labels and investor initiatives concerned with labour practices in transnational business have gained some recognition as a means of furthering social objectives. Yet they also raise many awkward issues, from the inconsistency of their coverage and requirements - often at variance with public regulatory frameworks - to the looseness of their implementation and assessment procedures. Besides, enterprises and countries - often developing countries - subjected to these 'voluntary' initiatives challenge their fairness. Taking account of current international efforts to address these shortcomings, Diller outlines a multilateral framework that could help private-sector initiatives contribute more effectively to upholding recognized standards of social justice.