Researchers Introduction
This page highlights some of the leading researchers in the area of working condition in supply chains. Click on the "view insights" link to view the articles by each author contained in this website.
Researchers
Matthew Amengual
Matthew Amengual
Said Business School
University of Oxford | profile
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Prof. Amengual's research examines global labor standards in global supply chains and the political aspects of economic development. His work on private regulatory standards through global supply chains explores the challenges that multinational firms face when integrating social compliance into their core business practices.
Mark Anner
Mark Anner
School of Labor and Employment Relations
Penn State | profile
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Mark Anner’s research analyzes pricing and other sourcing dynamics in global supply chains and their effects on working conditions and workers’ rights. His works also include international labor solidarity, labor law reform, and corporate social responsibility in the global apparel industry.
Jennifer Bair
Jennifer Bair
Department of Sociology
The University of Virginia | profile
Jennifer Bair is a sociologist who studies globalization, trade, and development. Her research examines export-led development and includes fieldwork in Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Mexico.
Stephanie Barrientos
Stephanie Barrientos
Alliance Manchester Business School
University of Manchester | profile
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Prof. Barrientos has researched and published widely on gender, global production, employment, decent work, trade and labor standards, corporate social responsibility, fair trade, and ethical trade. She has undertaken research in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the UK.
Tim Bartley
Tim Bartley
Department of Sociology
Washington University in St. Louis | profile
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Tim Bartley’s researches inequality and accountability in global production networks with a particular focus on social movements and standards pertaining to labor rights and environmental justice.
Yanhua Bird
Yanhua Bird
Questrom School of Business
Boston University | profile
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Prof. Bird’s research examines corporate social and environmental sustainability, and the influence of digital technology such as platforms on workers and customers.
Drusilla Brown
Drusilla Brown
Department of Economics and Tufts Labor Lab
Tufts University | profile
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Drusilla Brown studies how working conditions in developing countries are affected by government, nongovernmental, and private-sector institutional efforts such as BetterWork and Better Factories programs. Her research focus includes trade policy concerning international labor standards and child labor.
Salo Coslovsky
Salo Coslovsky
Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
New York University | profile
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Salo Coslovsky's research examines how governments in developing countries influence routine business practices through the building of legal authority. His research interests also include the enforcement of labor, environmental, food safety, and other regulations that protect vulnerable groups from exploitation and abuse.
Greg Distelhorst
Greg Distelhorst
Rotman School of Management and Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources
University of Toronto | profile
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Prof. Distelhorst’s research focuses on global trade and worker rights, as well as politics and policy in contemporary China.
Niklas Egels-Zandén
Niklas Egels-Zandén
Department of Business Administration
University of Gothenburg | profile
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Niklas Egels-Zandén’s research is focused on the governance of global production networks and integration of sustainability into corporate strategy.
Gary Gereffi
Gary Gereffi
Duke University
Global Value Chains Center | profile
Prof. Gereffi is a sociologist and founding director of Duke’s Global Value Chains Center. His research focuses on the governance of global value chains as well as international trade and industrial upgrading in sectors ranging from apparel to electronics.
Matthew Johnson
Matthew Johnson
Stanford School of Public Policy
Duke University | profile
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Prof. Johnson’s research seeks to understand how different regulations, policies and shifts in the labor market affect working conditions in the United States. Much of his work examines the effects of health and safety regulations on firms and workers, and identifies the factors influencing compliance with these regulations.
Sarosh Kuruvilla
Sarosh Kuruvilla
IRL School
Cornell University | profile
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Sarosh Kuruvilla studies the linkages between industrial relations policies and practices, national human resource policies and practices, and economic development policies. The scope of his research includes sustainable labor practices in global supply chains, primarily in the apparel industry.
David Levine
David Levine
Haas School of Business
University of California, Berkeley | profile
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Prof. Levine’s research focuses on understanding and overcoming barriers to improving health in poor nations. This research has examined both how to increase demand for health-promoting goods such as safer cookstoves and water filters, and how to change health-related behaviors such as handwashing with soap.
Xiaojin Liu
Xiaojin Liu
VCU School of Business
Virginia Commonwealth University | profile
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Prof. Liu’s research is focused on developing and evaluating innovative and responsible operations around management practices related to human capital and technology. His work is motivated by real world challenges in global supply chains that require firms to align their operations with the needs of multiple stakeholders.
Richard Locke
Richard Locke
Watson Institute International & Public Affairs
Brown University | profile
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Prof. Locke is Provost and Professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs at Brown. He studies international labor rights, comparative political economy, employment relations, and corporate responsibility. Working with Nike, Coca Cola, Apple, HP, and other companies, Locke's work has demonstrated how corporate profitability and sustainable business practices can be reconciled.
Dara O’Rourke
Dara O’Rourke
Rausser College of Natural Resources
University of California at Berkeley | profile
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Dara O’Rourke’s research analyzes the environmental and social impacts of industrial development, and how governments, firms, and local communities respond to adverse impacts of industrialization.
Chikako Oka
Chikako Oka
Institut de Recherche en Gestion
Université de Paris-Est Créteil | profile
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Chikako Oka is an Associate Professor at the IAE Gustave Eiffel School of Management (University Paris-Est Créteil) and a researcher at the Institute of Management Research (IRG). Prof. Oka’s research interests include corporate social responsibility with a focus on labor conditions in global supply chains.
Kelly Pike
Kelly Pike
School of Human Resource Management
York University | profile
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Prof. Pike’s research examines the role of worker voice and participation in the regulation of international labor standards, with a particular focus on the global garment industry in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the regulation of labor in global value chains.
Raymond Robertson
Raymond Robertson
Bush School of Government & Public Service
Texas A&M University | profile
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Prof. Robertson’s research examines labor markets across borders and their effects on international economics, and working conditions in global supply chains, particularly in apparel and textile industries in developing countries.
Hiram Samel
Hiram Samel
Sloan School of Management
Massachusetts Institute of Technology | profile
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Prof. Samel’s research on labor standards in the global electronics industry examines the persistent problem of long working hours seen in the production networks of leading consumer electronics and computer makers.
Jodi Short
Jodi Short
UC Hastings College of Law
University of California, San Francisco | profile
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Prof. Short’s research is on the regulation of business and, in particular, the intersection of public and private regulatory regimes and the theory and practice of regulatory reform.
Kingshuk Sinha
Kingshuk Sinha
Carlson School of Management
University of Minnesota | profile
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Prof. Sinha’s research interests and expertise include work-design and working conditions in global supply chains and managing supply chain risks related to medical devices and drugs.
Sally Smith
Sally Smith
International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) | profile
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Sally Smith is a senior consultant specializing in gender, market systems, and inclusive and sustainable development. She has in-depth knowledge of sustainability standards and certification schemes in global production systems and value chains.
Michael W. Toffel
Michael W. Toffel
Harvard Business School
Harvard University | profile
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Prof. Toffel's research examines companies' management of environmental affairs and occupational safety, identifying which types of management programs and regulations improve environmental and safety performance. His work ranges from academic articles based on econometric analyses of large datasets to case studies of individual companies.
Veronica Villena
Veronica Villena
W.P. Carey School of Business
Arizona State University | profile
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Veronica Villena is a supply chain scholar whose research examines how companies diffuse environmental and social practices into their first-, second-, and third-tier suppliers in the automotive, consumer product, electronics, food, and pharmaceutical sectors.