Do Labour Rights Matter for Export? A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Pineapple Trade to the EU

• Published in: Politics and governance Vol. 5; no. 4; pp. 93 - 105
• Main Authors: Gansemans, Annelien, Martens, Deborah, D’Haese, Marijke, Orbie, Jan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lisbon Cogitatio Press 01-12-2017; Cogitatio
• Subjects: agricultural trade; Comparative analysis; Comparative studies; Exports; globalisation; Globalization; institutions; International trade; Labor standards; labour rights; Political economy; QCA; Qualitative research; Tariffs; Trade relations
• ISSN: 2183-2463; 2183-2463
• DOI: 10.17645/pag.v5i4.1082

Labour norms are increasingly considered in trade relations, but is the protection of labour standards a necessary condition for export to the EU? A Qualitative Comparative Analysis, based on countries that export pineapples to the EU, shows that labour standards protection matters in combination with distance, zero tariffs and institutional quality in a number of cases. However, for none of the cases was it a sufficient condition on its own for determining exports to the European market. Rather, we show that (1) having a zero tariff is necessary for a relatively large share of export to the EU, and (2) labour standards protection can make a difference when the institutional quality is weak in some African cases, in contrast to Latin American exporters.