What shapes whether labour market institutions improve the lives of vulnerable workers?

What is it about?

Labour conditions in garment factories around the world are appalling, characterised by low wages, long hours and poor health and safety. Better Factories Cambodia is respected worldwide for being an effective and innovative labour market institution. It has played an important role in improving labour standards in the Cambodian garment industry from amongst the most egregious in the late 1990s to largely complying with the ILO‘s Core Labour Standards today. Despite the respect it receives, it has a precarious place in Cambodia, coming under pressure from the Cambodian government and sometimes being discredited. This article examines how Better Factories Cambodia has negotiated this complex environment, and how this negotiation has shaped what it has been able to achieve. My study has used a range of research methods to conduct this study of the institution‘s effectiveness. The aim of this article is to demonstrate how the deployment of a range of methods has resulted in a deeper and more complex understanding of Better Factories Cambodia‘s operation than would have been the case using standard legal methods.

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Why is it important?

Given how poor labour standards are in garment industries around the world, it is critical that we develop labour institutions that are effective, and improve the lives of these vulnerable workers. How we know if a labour market institution is effective depends, in turn, on the quality our methods of study.

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