Labour Standards in Global Production Networks: Assessing Transnational Private Regulation and Workers' Capacity to Act

Despite decades of growing engagement, there are still questions about the effectiveness of transnational private regulation in labour standards to improve employee welfare in global production networks. The literature shows that some improvementmay be expected in outcome standards, such as benefits, working time, health and safety issues, but not necessarily in process rights, such as freedom of association, collective bargaining and employment dialogue. Yet, workers need such rights if they are to have a voice and to participate in the organizational processes by which standards may be improved and compliance monitored. The authors of this article contend that the effectiveness of transnational private regulation in labour standards ultimately rests on workers’ capacity to act. The article is based on analysis of a cross-country and cross-sectoral data set from site-level surveys of 139 suppliers from Brazil and Kenya in the agricultural, manufacturing and service sectors. The analysis provides no evidence that either the presence of standards at a supplier’s site, or the awareness of such standards by workers employed at that site, have an impact on workers’ capacity to act. Moreover, the results provide only weak evidence that standards help workers gain influence over matters of relatively minor importance on the agenda of workplace cooperation

Data Privacy Concerns as a Source of Resistance to Complete Mobile Data Collection Tasks Via a Smartphone App

Smartphones present many interesting opportunities for survey research, particularly through the use of mobile data collection applications (apps). There is still much to learn, however, about how to integrate apps in general population surveys. Recent studies investigating hypothetical willingness to complete mobile data collection tasks via an app suggest there may be substantial resistance, in particular, due to concerns around data privacy. There is not much evidence about how privacy concerns influence actual decisions to participate in app-based surveys. Theoretical approaches to understanding privacy concerns and survey participation decisions would suggest that the influence of the former over the latter is likely to vary situationally. In this paper, we present results from a methodological experiment conducted in the context of a three-wave probability-based online panel survey of the general population as part of the 2019 Swiss Election Study ("Selects") testing different ways of recruiting participants to an app. Questions included at wave 1 about online data privacy concerns and comfort sharing different types of data with academic researchers allow us to assess their impact on both hypothetical willingness to download a survey app for completing questionnaires, to take and share photos, and to share the smartphone's GPS location and actual completion of these tasks. Our findings confirm that general concerns about online data privacy do influence hypothetical willingness to complete mobile data collection tasks, but may be overridden by how comfortable people feel about sharing specific types of data with researchers. When it comes to actual compliance with task requests, however, neither privacy concerns nor comfort sharing data seem to matter. We conclude with recommendations for exploring these relationships further in future app-based studies

Parental Monitoring, Individual Dispositions, and Alcohol Use Disorder: A Longitudinal Study with Young Swiss Men

This paper evaluates the interaction between level of parental monitoring in adolescence and individual dispositions present in early adulthood in the prediction of alcohol use disorder (AUD) in the mid-20s. Data were drawn from the Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors (C-SURF), encompassing 4844 young Swiss men who were surveyed three times within a 5-year period. The outcome variable was alcohol use disorder (AUD) as defined in the DSM-5. Independent variables were sensation seeking (Brief Sensation Seeking Scale) and the coping strategies active coping and denial (Brief COPE). Low parental monitoring, high sensation seeking, and high denial were found risk factors of AUD (odds ratio (OR) = 1.21 (1.05–1.40); OR = 1.56 (1.37–1.78); OR = 1.15 (1.01–1.31)). A significant interaction effect was identified between active coping and parental monitoring; high active coping in early adulthood was found protective of AUD, only among individuals who had low parental monitoring in adolescence (OR = 0.70 (0.52–0.96)). In addition to interventions to upskill parents for improving monitoring, other interventions directed to young adults who had disadvantaged family contexts could be implemented, with the aim of enhancing the use of adaptive coping strategies such as active coping. Prevention targeting avoidant coping strategies and sensation seeking should be privileged too

Is transnational private regulation supporting workers’ capacity to act? Evidence from a cross-country, cross-sectoral firm-level survey

Despite decades of growing engagement of transnational private regulation in labour standards, debates remain high regarding their effectiveness. The literature shows that some improvement may be expected in outcome standards, such as benefits, working time, health and safety issues; and not much should be expected for process rights, such as freedom of association, collective bargaining, and employment dialogue. Yet, outcome standards without process rights provide a bleak prospect for the future of certification, as workers need such rights to have a voice and to participate in the organizational processes by which outcome standards may be improved and compliance with them reviewed. The paper contends that the effectiveness of transnational private regulation in labour standards ultimately rests on workers’ capacity to act to improve their working conditions in global production networks. Our analysis provides no evidence that either the presence of standards at a supplier’s site, or the awareness of such standards by workers employed at that site have an effect on union membership – taken here to assess workers’ capacity to act in order to improve their working conditions. Moreover, our results provide no evidence that standards would even help workers gain influence on matters of relatively minor importance on the agenda of workplace cooperation. Our findings are based on a dataset from original site level surveys of 221 workers and 113 managers in companies from Brazil and Kenya in the agricultural, manufacturing and service sectors

Parental monitoring, individual dispositions, and alcohol use disorder ::a longitudinal study with young Swiss men

This paper evaluates the interaction between level of parental monitoring in adolescence and individual dispositions present in early adulthood in the prediction of alcohol use disorder (AUD) in the mid-20s. Data were drawn from the Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors (C-SURF), encompassing 4844 young Swiss men who were surveyed three times within a 5-year period. The outcome variable was alcohol use disorder (AUD) as defined in the DSM-5. Independent variables were sensation seeking (Brief Sensation Seeking Scale) and the coping strategies active coping and denial (Brief COPE). Low parental monitoring, high sensation seeking, and high denial were found risk factors of AUD (odds ratio (OR) = 1.21 (1.05–1.40); OR = 1.56 (1.37–1.78); OR = 1.15 (1.01–1.31)). A significant interaction effect was identified between active coping and parental monitoring; high active coping in early adulthood was found protective of AUD, only among individuals who had low parental monitoring in adolescence (OR = 0.70 (0.52–0.96)). In addition to interventions to upskill parents for improving monitoring, other interventions directed to young adults who had disadvantaged family contexts could be implemented, with the aim of enhancing the use of adaptive coping strategies such as active coping. Prevention targeting avoidant coping strategies and sensation seeking should be privileged too