Suchergebnisse

As a result of the disruptions caused by Covid-19, this research aims to understand the current state of global textile supply chains, and what impacts the pandemic has caused to the risks of modern slavery and labour exploitation. By taking a wide scope of literature and surveys from multiple stakeholders including: industry, governmental, international, business membership, and non-governmental organisations, we hoped to gain a broad understanding of the current issues. Our objectives were to assess the various impacts the industry has faced, what actions were taken, and what was the reasoning behind those actions. Furthermore, we wanted to evaluate what had been the result of the actions taken and how had the structure of global textile supply chains affected their resilience to the pandemic. From this we were able to highlight the complexity of the problems currently at play with the industry and the variety of decisions being made to try and combat them, as well as the risk to workers within the system and the unpredictability of how the pandemic will unfold.

Infrastructural assets are vital for a country's economic and social development. Governments typically provide the regulation and administration of these assets, while multinational enterprises (MNEs) develop, construct, finance, and operate them. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) promises infrastructure projects that deliver economic and social benefit for both the host country and the MNE, however, the foreign market entry activities of Chinese MNEs in infrastructure projects might not always be successful. By bridging the bargaining power literature with the economics of property rights perspective, we examine how and why host-country actors at different governance levels influence foreign direct investment. Using a comparative case study approach, we interrogate four attempts by Chinese firms to negotiate access to Italian ports. In particular, we show that for a BRI port investment to take place, there has to be an alignment between the various actors of the property rights nexus regarding the allocation of rights. Chinese investors need to understand the bargaining position and property rights of actors across multiple levels, across space, and be mindful of changes over time when negotiating an infrastructure investment. Host-country governments need to have a clear port infrastructure strategy to avoid wasting resources in lengthy negotiations and useless infrastructure.