Research Portfolio | Political Science 

In his new book, The Promise and Limits of Private Power, MIT political scientist Richard Locke says that protecting workers involved in the global supply chain will require 3 things: actions by firms themselves; long-standing supply-chain relationships, and government effort.

Story at MIT News

About the book

Article in the Boston Review series "Corporate Responsibility for Factory Workers

"Recent research shows that national governments—even in poor countries with few natural resources—have far more ability to impose their will on foreign investors than was previously believed. Where buyers and suppliers have incentives to circumvent regulations that increase their costs, national governments are best positioned to prevent defections by individual firms and ensure that all producers within the same national or regional economy adhere to common standards. Yet how does one promote this type of government intervention in a world of global supply chains?" — Richard Locke, Head MIT Political Science