The law of Global Value Chains: Theory and Practice at Work

The workshop will focus on the role of law in Global Value Chains (GVCs) – intricate networks that organize, operate, and impact the world economy. GVCs represent the functional and geographical fragmentations of supply and production, often transferring labor-intensive tasks to emerging economies. Despite being the "central nervous system" of the world economy, scholars emphasize that GVCs don't inherently guarantee development or the distribution of value evenly across the chain, observing power and profit maldistribution, along with adverse effects on local communities, workers, and the environment.

While there are innovative attempts to regulate GVCs, the socio-legal dimension remains under-theorized, with a focus instead on private self-governance. This workshop aims to address this gap by bringing together scholars from various legal fields, disciplines, and national contexts to explore the theory and practice of the Law of GVCs. The workshop will engage private and public law scholars, together with GVC scholars from other disciplines. Following a general discussion of law and GVCs, the workshop will focus on the challenge of labor governance in GVCs.

The focus on labor evolves from the growing repertoire of governance instruments that are used in GVCs governance, eliciting much experimentation and innovation. Systemic violations of workers' rights in lower tiers of GVCs have prompted action across the OECD. Modern slavery and mandatory human rights due diligence laws (MHRDD) require Multinational Corporations (MNCs) to disclose actions addressing forced labor or adopt mechanisms for duty of care and diligence. Transnational litigation attempts by advocacy groups to impose duties on MNCs, though so far, with limited success. Trade initiatives and import controls were introduced by some countries to address forced labor, but these lack remediation for workers. Amid skepticism about top-down regulatory approaches, attention has shifted to bottom-up strategies emphasizing worker participation, voice, and Worker Driven Social Responsibility (WSR). Preliminary assessments suggest positive impacts on working conditions through WSR initiatives, yet challenges of replicability and scalability exist.

The first day of the workshop will introduce the broader discussion of the interaction of different areas of law with GVCs, examining GVCs not merely an economic innovation detached from law, but as an institution that is constituted through law. The second day will examine the proliferation of regulatory approaches and labor governance strategies that serve as important case studies for the intersection of law and GVCs. The two days will create a unique opportunity for a multi-faceted and holistic understanding and assessment of law and GVCs both in theory and in practice.