The Global Labor Institute is leading research and new conversations about work in global supply chains. We use data and quantitative analysis to identify what works to improve working conditions and advance labor rights.
Research Outputs
Higher Ground? Climate change and apparel production
This brief for apparel brands and manufacturers—based on analyses by the Cornell University Global Labor Institute and U.K.-based fund manager Schroders—looks into fashion’s near future to calculate the possible economic damage caused by high heat, rising humidity, and disruptive flooding.
Eliminating Gender-based Violence and Harassment in Global Supply Chains
We present here our analysis of processes and outcomes in year 2 of the operation of the agreement, as a prelude to a more comprehensive evaluation in 2025 when the agreement expires.
25 Metrics to Measure Due Diligence in Global Supply Chain
Cornell ILR’s Global Labor Institute (GLI) launched its Labor Outcomes Metrics on May 29. The new set of 25 quantitative measures allows regulators, firms and unions to score, track and compare impacts over time.
Recent Publication by Sarosh Kuruvilla: Shifting Modes of Labor Regulation in Global Supply Chains
This essay outlines changing modes of regulation of labor conditions in global apparel supply chains, which are concentrated in Asia; assesses the effectiveness of 25 years of private voluntary regulation by global firms; and examines critically the implications of new European regulation now mandating what was previously a voluntary corporate activity.
A new working paper by the Global Labor Institute delves into the lessons learned by the apparel industry during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores how to better handle future crises.
Corporate Codes of Conduct and Labour Turnover in Global Apparel Supply Chains
Research on private regulation of labour issues in global supply chains has focused extensively on whether supplier factories comply with the codes of conduct of global companies. Less is known about how such compliance relates to the preferences and behaviours of workers at export factories.
When apparel factories shut down due to COVID-19, many workers lost their incomes. ILR’s New Conversations Project proposes a model to protect workers.
ILR and ILO Make Suggestions to Help Fishers in Southeast Asia
Researchers from ILR’s New Conversations Project and the International Labour Organization have documented problems faced by fishers, especially migrants, during the pandemic and provided a list of potential policy changes to effect change.
Private Regulation of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains
This paper, published as a chapter in the International Labor Organization's 2021 volume: Decent Work in a Globalized Economy, shares Professor Sarosh Kuruvilla and the New Conversations Project's new research on the limited progress of private regulation over a decade in multiple countries
“Repeat, Regain or Renegotiate?” NCP Working Paper No. 2 asks What's the future of apparel?
Cornell NCP's Jason Judd and Lowell Jackson plot the decades-long, pre-pandemic trajectories of apparel industry consolidation, automation, e-commerce, sourcing patterns, and governance of labor practices against three possible scenarios for the industry in the post-pandemic era. This paper also appears as an ILO Better Work Discussion Paper.
The New Conversations Project is publishing a limited series in the Sourcing Journal on latest research findings related to private regulation. These pieces are designed to de-code important new academic research for actors in the global supply chain.
Social Dialogue in the 21st Century Project Reports
The Social Dialogue in the 21st Century Project published ten country reports - plus the NCP Synthesis Report - on obstacles to social dialogue in the global garment supply chain.
Draft Working Paper (ILO/GLI) "Beneath the surface: Review of literature and initiatives for identification of forced labour in fishing" (2020)
This Working Paper drafted with support from ILO Fundamentals identifies and brings together what is already known about obstacles to identifying fishers in forced labour and key knowledge gaps in this regard.
Social Sustainability in Global Supply Chains: An Empirical Investigation of Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining
In this article, we seek empirical answers to two research questions: a) What are the typical violations of FOA and CB rights in global supply chains that must be corrected for workers to exercise their voice?
The New Conversations Project has published a new research brief with the ILO assessing the impact of COVID-19 on the apparel industry in Asia and the Pacific.
