Multinational corporations (MNCs) in the West have introduced voluntary codes of conduct (CoC) in global supply chains to promote the application of international labour standards and labour rights in their suppliers’ factories. Previous studies on CoC implementation have addressed various problems of its effectiveness but they are limited to a rather narrow context of business relationships between MNCs and factory-based suppliers. My research examines CoC implementation in a wider global supply chain and domestic institutional context. It aims to: firstly, assess how CoC is implemented throughout the multi-layered clothing supply chain and, secondly, identify structural and institutional constraints which hinder the effectiveness of CoC. The thesis employs qualitative analyses of 398 web-based documents from the 75 largest clothing brands and retailers in US and UK markets. It also provides data from 62 in-depth and semi-structured interviews of garment factories managers, workers, vendors, labour auditors and local officials in Vietnam, as well as representatives from UK retailers and campaign groups. The thesis analyses various sets of relationship among these actors and in two dimensions of the environments in which CoC operates: global supply network structure and domestic employment relations system. My thesis makes three original contributions. Firstly it challenges the presumed logic of CoC aimed at supporting workers, because it shows evidence from the workers’ perspective that CoC not only fails to support workers’ needs but also faces resistance from them in non-complying factories in Vietnam. Secondly, I argue that the oversimplified assumption of principal-agent control model between MNCs and suppliers’ factories, which underpins the CoC arrangement, fails to recognise the complex structure of supply network with interdependent operations and multi-level flow of commands. Finally, my thesis exposes the weakness of market initiatives like CoC: when their pledges to improve working conditions and promote workers’ rights clash with economic and socio-political priorities of the local government, the latter prevails. Taking the business and institutional dimensions together I have developed a framework for a more comprehensive assessment of CoC and similar voluntary initiatives that can be applied by other researchers in similar contexts.

Thesis (B.A.Hons. 1979) from the Department of History, University of Adelaide.

The changing requirements in the modern labour market have led to a new form of economic geography of employment, where skills, wages and the uncertainty of employment play a primary role in the spatial division of labour. The main purpose of this project is to investigate the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) as a tool to illustrate employment and unemployment in Östergötland County for giving information on the development of the labour market. In addition, the use of GIS for population data analysis with the help of Oracle’s map viewer is closely examined. This descriptive thesis reveals that the labour market is characterized by the geographic extension of the market and its determination by how far the supply and demand forces go and the important role that GIS plays in illustrating the distribution of workforce in Östergötland’s labour market. GIS is an analytical tool for employer/employee demographics that can be used for visualization but also for analysis and pre-processing purposes with the use of graphic tools. With the use of thematic maps, GIS can visualise spatial data with labour data according to certain demographic criteria. GIS technology has ways of mapping thematically the local labour market demand and supply. In addition, it is capable of constructing a comprehensive workforce development system that can integrate the job seekers and employers. GIS can facilitate the development of visual web-based mapping systems that allow users to investigate and find employees within various industries.

<p>The changing requirements in the modern labour market have led to a new form of economic geography of employment, where skills, wages and the uncertainty of employment play a primary role in the spatial division of labour.</p><p>The main purpose of this project is to investigate the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) as a tool to illustrate employment and unemployment in Östergötland County for giving information on the development of the labour market. In addition, the use of GIS for population data analysis with the help of Oracle’s map viewer is closely examined. This descriptive thesis reveals that the labour market is characterized by the geographic extension of the market and its determination by how far the supply and demand forces go and the important role that GIS plays in illustrating the distribution of workforce in Östergötland’s labour market.</p><p>GIS is an analytical tool for employer/employee demographics that can be used for visualization but also for analysis and pre-processing purposes with the use of graphic tools. With the use of thematic maps, GIS can visualise spatial data with labour data according to certain demographic criteria.</p><p>GIS technology has ways of mapping thematically the local labour market demand and supply. In addition, it is capable of constructing a comprehensive workforce development system that can integrate the job seekers and employers. GIS can facilitate the development of visual web-based mapping systems that allow users to investigate and find employees within various industries.</p>

This thesis deals with the alternative work arrangements in Europe, namely flexitime and part-time. The theoretical basis is built on the theory of preferences and takes into account household labour supply considering also household production. The aplication part compares and contrasts situation in corresponding European countries with special reference to identification the differences between men and women. As a next step, regression and correlation analysis is used in order to identify relationship between part-time ratio and other variables. It was found that there is no relationship between part-time ratio and gender wage gap. Furthermore, there is a statistically significant relationship between GDP per capita and women part-time ratio, which helps to explain the differences among corresponding countries.