Economic and social upgrading in global production networks: the case of the garment industry in Morocco

The conditions under which social upgrading, i.e., the process of improvements in the rights and entitlements of workers as social actors by enhancing the quality of their employment, takes place in global production networks [GPNs] have not been sufficiently explored. This research addresses the following research questions: how is social upgrading defined? Under which conditions does social upgrading occur? How does economic upgrading influence social upgrading? How does the local and global social and institutional context influence social upgrading opportunities? First, the thesis establishes a definition and categorisation of social upgrading. Then, it answers these questions by analysing the empirical case study of the garment industry in Morocco. The analysis of key informant interviews, semi-structured interviews with factory managers and focus group discussions with workers shows that participation in GPNs can deliver opportunities as well as challenges for developing country workers. The main argument and contribution of the thesis to the existing literature is that the attainment of social upgrading is hindered by the tension existing between commercial embeddedness and social embeddedness of GPNs. All actors in GPNs find themselves caught in between commercial dynamics and the subsequent need for competitiveness, and the need of considering workers as social agents with rights. In particular, supplier firms in developing countries have to respond to international buyers’ pressures to lower costs, increase quality and productivity, as well as deliver products on short notice and with great flexibility. At the same time, they have to comply to labour standards set by national and international regulations and by private buyers’ codes of conduct. These pressures are contradictory and create a critical dilemma for suppliers. Struggling to reconcile buyers’ requirements and faced with this tension, they attempt to mitigate it by employing two types of workers: regular workers who guarantee high quality and continuity, and are the recipient of social upgrading; and irregular workers, who ensure low costs and a high degree of flexibility, and are largely excluded from social upgrading opportunities and are often socially downgraded. Therefore, participation in GPNs delivers a mix of social upgrading and downgrading depending on the type of worker under consideration

Symmetry protected topological phases of 1D interacting fermions with spin-charge separation

The low energy behavior of a huge variety of one-dimensional interacting spinful fermionic systems exhibits spin-charge separation, described in the continuum limit by two sine-Gordon models decoupled in the charge and spin channels. Interaction is known to induce, besides the gapless Luttinger liquid phase, eight possible gapped phases, among which are the Mott, Haldane, charge-/spin-density, and bond-ordered wave insulators, and the Luther Emery liquid. Here we prove that some of these physically distinct phases have nontrivial topological properties, notably the presence of degenerate protected edge modes with fractionalized charge/spin. Moreover, we show that the eight gapped phases are in one-to-one correspondence with the symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases classified by group cohomology theory in the presence of particle-hole symmetry P. The latter result is also exploited to characterize SPT phases by measurable nonlocal order parameters which follow the system evolution to the quantum phase transition. The implications on the appearance of exotic orders in the class of microscopic Hubbard Hamiltonians, possibly without P symmetry at higher energies, are discussed.Comment: latest version: 8 pages, 1 Tabl

Photoexcitation of electron wave packets in quantum spin Hall edge states: effects of chiral anomaly from a localised electric pulse

We show that, when a spatially localised electric pulse is applied at the edge of a quantum spin Hall system, electron wavepackets of the helical states can be photoexcited by purely intra-branch electrical transitions, without invoking the bulk states or the magnetic Zeeman coupling. In particular, as long as the electric pulse remains applied, the photoexcited densities lose their character of right- and left-movers, whereas after the ending of the pulse they propagate in opposite directions without dispersion, i.e. maintaining their space profile unaltered. Notably we find that, while the momentum distribution of the photoexcited wave packets depends on the temperature $T$ and the chemical potential $\mu$ of the initial equilibrium state and displays a non-linear behavior on the amplitude of the applied pulse, in the mesoscopic regime the space profile of the wave packets is independent of $T$ and $\mu$. Instead, it depends purely on the applied electric pulse, in a linear manner, as a signature of the chiral anomaly characterising massless Dirac electrons. We also discuss how the photoexcited wave packets can be tailored with the electric pulse parameters, for both low and finite frequencies.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure

Making the Case for Evidence-based Standardization of Data Privacy and Data Protection Visual Indicators

Lately, icons have witnessed a growing wave of interest in the view of enhancing transparency and clarity of data processing practices in mandated disclosures. Although benefits in terms of comprehensibility, noticeability, navigability of the information and user’s attention and memorization can be expected, they should also be supported by decisive empirical evidence about the efficacy of the icons in specific contexts. Misrepresentation, oversimplification, and improper salience of certain aspects over others are omnipresent risks that can drive data subjects to wrong conclusions. Cross-domain and international standardization of visual means also poses a serious challenge: if on the one hand developing standards is necessary to ensure widespread recognition and comprehension, each domain and application presents unique features that can be hardly established, and imposed, in a top-down manner. This article critically discusses the above issues and identifies relevant open questions for scientific research. It also provides concrete examples and practical suggestions for researchers and practitioners that aim to implement transparency-enhancing icons in the spirit of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Proactive Legal Design for Health Data Sharing Based on Smart Contracts

© 2021 Hart Publishing, Bloomsbury Publishing.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Wine tasting: a neurophysiological measure of taste and olfaction interaction in the experience

In the last years have been provided evidences of sensory–sensory connectivity and influences of one modality over primary sensory cortex of another, a phenomena called crossmodality. Typically, for the wine tasting, sommeliers in addition to the use of the gustation, by the introduction of the wine into the mouth, employ the stimulation of the olfactory system both through a direct olfactory stimulation (by the nose) and a retro-nasal pathway (inhaling air while swirling the wine around in the mouth). Aim of the present study was to investigate the reaction to the wine gustation with and without the direct olfactory contribution, through an electroencephalographic index of approach or withdrawal (AW) motivation, and an autonomic index (Emotional Index – EI), deriving from the matching of heart rate and galvanic skin response activity and considered an indicator of emotional involvement. Results showed a statistically significant increase of the EI values in correspondence of wine tasting with the olfactory component (p<0.01) in comparison to the tasting without the direct olfactory contribution, and a trend of greater approach attitude was reported for the same condition. Data suggest an interaction of the two sensory modalities influencing the emotional and the cognitive aspects of wine tasting experience in a non-expert sampl

Workers and social upgrading in "fast fashion": The case of the apparel industry in Morocco and Romania

Over the past three decades the global economy has witnessed the rise of organizationally fragmented and geographically dispersed global production networks (GPNs). An increasing amount of literature drawing on chain and network conceptualizations has accumulated on how these changes affect countries, regions and firms. Comparatively little has, however, been said about the effects on workers and their roles in GPNs. Although the expansion of global production arrangements has been an important source of employment generation in many developing and transition countries, this quantitative assessment reveals little about the qualitative aspects of work nor about the sustainability of these jobs. This paper assesses how integration into GPNs in the increasingly important fast fashion apparel segment, that is based on increased variety and fashionability and on permanently shrinking product life cycles, is impacting on workers and social upgrading. It particularly assesses whether the sourcing practices related to fast fashion, such as short lead times, high flexibility, speed of production, low costs and high quality, create additional hurdles for workers to achieve social upgrading. The focus is on the apparel industry in Central and Eastern Europe and in the Euro-Mediterranean Rim ("Greater Europe") with case studies on Morocco and Romania due to their importance as regional and fast fashion suppliers to Western European buyers

LA CESSIONE DI PRODOTTI AGROALIMENTARI: DALLA DISPARITA' DI POTERE CONTRATTUALE AL RIEQUILIBRIO DEL CONTRATTO. TUTELA DEL CONTRAENTE DEBOLE ED EFFICIENZA DEL MERCATO

L’art. 62 del d.l. n. 1 del 2012, che riecheggia lo schema della Legge n. 192 del 1998, ma nello specifico settore agroalimentare, prevede non solo regole di forma, che hanno un obiettivo di protezione della parte debole del rapporto (neoformalismo contrattuale), ma anche regole di contenuto e di comportamento, che intendono prevenire la formazione di contratti iniqui. Lo scopo di questo studio non è soltanto quello di offrire un inquadramento sistematico ad una legislazione che, peraltro, si inserisce in un contesto sempre più frammentato, ma anche quello di analizzare i vari strumenti previsti e di valutare la loro capacità nel perseguimento dello scopo prefissato dalla legislazione, anche attraverso l'applicazione della disciplina generale prevista all'interno del codice civile, alla quale oggi, più che mai, si sente il bisogno di ridare spazio. Il lavoro si dipana lungo quattro capitoli, attraverso un percorso che inizia con l’analisi delle relazioni tra contratto e mercato, tramite un’indagine sistematica sulla nuova disciplina dei contratti, prosegue con l’approfondimento della disciplina dell’articolo 62, per poi analizzare gli strumenti introdotti in relazione all’impatto sull’efficienza del mercato, ed in particolare sul settore agroalimentare, in termini di food safety, food security e accesso al credito.Article 62 of the d.l. n. 1 of 2012, which echoes the scheme of Law no. 192 of 1998, but in the agri-food sector, provides not only rules of form, which have the objective of protecting the weak part of the relationship (neoformalism), but also rules of content and behavior, which intend to prevent the formation of unfair contracts. The aim of this study is not only to offer a systematic framework for legislation that, moreover, is part of an increasingly fragmented context in italian legislation, but also to analyze the various instruments and to assess their ability to achieve the intended purpose, also through the application of the general principal of civil code which today, more than ever, feels the need to be applied. The work unfolds along four chapters, through a process that begins with the analysis of the relationship between contract and market, through a systematic survey on this new discipline of contracts, continues with the examination of the discipline of Article 62, and then analyze the tools introduced and their impact on the efficiency of the market, and in particular on the agri-food sector, in terms of food safety, food security and access to credit

Gender differences evaluation in charity campaigns perception by measuring neurophysiological signals and behavioural data

Nowadays it has clearly understood that emotions play an important role in the success of commercial advertising. Particularly, it has been observed as advertising campaigns of non-profit organizations need to create an emotional appeal in people, in order to generate a positive behavioral response. The charity sector has grown tremendously in the last decades and with it the need to create improved specific marketing strategies. The aim of the present paper is to show how the variation of the EEG frontal cortical asymmetry is related to the general appreciation perceived during the observation of a charity campaign, focusing on gender differences. With the use of neurophysiological and traditional measures, the responses of participants are evaluated through an electroencephalographic (EEG) index of approach or withdrawal motivation based on the frontal alpha asymmetry, called ApproachWithdrawal Index (AW), and an autonomic index deriving from the combination of the heart rate (HR) and the galvanic skin response (GSR) activity, called Emotional Index (EI), considered an indicator of the emotional involvement. An interview at the end of each experience reveals the behavioral data. Results show higher values for women than men of both neurophysiological indexes: for the EI with p=0,037 and for the AW index with p=0,035. The declared answers of participants at the end of the campaign demonstrate that the declared liking of women is statistically significantly higher than the declared liking of men (p=0,008). Finally, there is a correlation between the AW and the declared liking with p=0,007. Results suggest the presence of gender differences in the cognitive and emotional responses to emotion appealing charity advertisements