Corporate Responsibility and Labour Rights

Chapter 5

Mapping codes through the valuechain: from researcher to detective

Stephanie Barrientos

INTRODUCTION

Many codes adopted by Northern companies apply along their value chains in developing countries. The purpose of the code is to ensure that distant suppliers, over whom the buyer has only a certain amount of commercial leverage, meet minimum employment standards. In a globalized economy these value chains can be quite complex, with large numbers of suppliers at different points of the chain applying codes. Conversely, a single supplier could be producing for a number of global buyers, and be subject to a range of codes. The extent to which ...