An International Regulatory Framework for National Employment Policies

Häberli, Christian (2016). An International Regulatory Framework for National Employment Policies. Journal of world trade, 50(2), pp. 167-192. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business

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Employment-related policies are sensitive by any standard, and they remain basically national despite international labour standards (ILS) being even older than the United Nations. Globalization is changing this situation where countries may have to choose between ‘more’ or ‘better’ jobs. The multilateral framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO) can only have an indirect impact. But Regional Trade Agreements (RTA) and International Investment Agreements (IIA) are emerging as a new way of gradually enhancing the impact of certain labour standards. In addition, unilateral measures both by governments and importers driven by social and environmental consumer preferences and pressure groups increasingly shape the international regulatory framework for national employment policies. Even small, locally operating enterprises
risk marginalization and market exclusion by ignoring these developments. The long-term influence of this new ‘network approach’ on employment-related policies, including job location, gender issues, social coherence and migration remains to be seen. Nonetheless, the still flimsy evidence gathered here seems to indicate that this new, international framework might increase sustainable employment where and when supporting measures, including through unilateral
preferences and even sanctions, form a ‘cocktail’ which export-oriented industries and their suppliers will find palatable.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

02 Faculty of Law > Department of Economic Law > World Trade Institute
10 Strategic Research Centers > World Trade Institute

UniBE Contributor:

Häberli, Christian Martin

Subjects:

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 380 Commerce, communications & transportation

ISSN:

1011-6702

Publisher:

Wolters Kluwer Law & Business

Funders:

[4] Swiss National Science Foundation

Projects:

[1584] r4d employment

Language:

English

Submitter:

Christian Häberli

Date Deposited:

05 Apr 2016 15:00

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:54

Related URLs:

Additional Information:

JEL Codes F16, J8, O2

Uncontrolled Keywords:

trade, employment

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/80568

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