Modern slavery and global supply chain

Abstract

Although modern slavery is a persistent problem in GSC, the fundamental causes of its existence have been ignored (Michailova & Stringer, 2018). Even though prior studies captured different views on social compliance systems and disclosures (e.g. Bair & Gereffi, 2002; Burnett & Mahon, 2001; Emmelhainz & Adams, 1999; Islam & Deegan, 2008), much of such views is confined to conceptual analysis, having a lack of empirical evidence about the cause of failure of social compliance or modern slavery. In other words, existing studies offered insufficient analysis from ethical perspectives about the factors that drive modern slavery. In order to address this research gap, this current study seeks to answer the research question: what are the factors in the global supply chain that contribute to the perpetuation of modern slavery?