Do trade partners’ labour standards affect ASEAN’s labour standards?

• Main Authors: Said, Rusmawati, Ng, Kar Yee, Ismail, Normaz Wana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya 2019
• Online Access: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/79428/1/Do%20trade%20partners%E2%80%99%20labour%20standards%20affect%20ASEAN%E2%80%99s%20labour%20standards.pdf; http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/79428/; https://ijie.um.edu.my/article/view/17020#:~:text=The%20results%20evince%20a%20race,lockouts%20has%20an%20insignificant%20effect.
• Institution: Universiti Putra Malaysia

This paper investigates the impact of foreign labour standards on domestic labour standards in ASEAN countries. The study employs a set of cross-sectional time series data that covers the period from 1995-2008 for its empirical analysis. Three different labour standards indicators, namely numbers of strikes and lockouts, cases of occupational injuries, and trade union density rates–are used as a proxy for labour standards. The results evince a race to the bottom for labour standards, represented by cases of injuries. In contrast, the effect of trade partners’ trade union density rate is negative and significant; however, the number of strikes and lockouts has an insignificant effect. The findings of the study suggest that there may be a race to the bottom in terms of working conditions among ASEAN countries, but not on the standards that measure the rights of workers.