Working Hours in Supply Chain Chinese and Thai Factories: Evidence from the Fair Labor Association's ‘Soccer Project’
| Author | Russell Smyth,Ingrid Nielsen,Ines Kaempfer,Xiaolei Qian |
| Published date | 01 June 2013 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.2011.00881.x |
| Date | 01 June 2013 |
Working Hours in Supply Chain Chinese
and Thai Factories: Evidence from the
Fair Labor Association’s ‘Soccer Project’bjir_881382..408
Russell Smyth, Xiaolei Qian, Ingrid Nielsen
and Ines Kaempfer
Abstract
This article examines the determinants of working excessive hours, defined as
working in excess of 60 hours per week or for more than six consecutive days,
in Chinese and Thai supply chain factories. We use a matched employer–
employee dataset collected from 15 Chinese and Thai footwear and sporting
apparel supply chain factories, which supply international brands. Matched
employer–employee data allow us to examine the effect of worker and firm
characteristics on hours worked. We find that in addition to the demographic
and human capital characteristics of workers, firm-level characteristics and
worker awareness of how to refuse overtime are important in explaining varia-
tion in hours worked.
1. Introduction
Hours worked has shown to be correlated with job satisfaction, work–life
balance including family relationships and social interaction as well as mental
health, industrial injuries and productivity in the workplace among other
factors (see, e.g., Bacon et al. 2005; Clark 2005; Fritjers et al. 2009; Saffer and
Lamiraud 2008; Wilkins 2005). Hours worked is also considered an impor-
tant aspect when evaluating the quality of a job (Clark 2005). Several studies
have documented the adverse effects on social capital and well-being of
working very long hours (see, e.g., Park et al. 2001; Shields 1999; Sparks et al.
1997).
The purpose of this article is to examine the determinants of hours worked
in supply chain factories in China and Thailand, using a unique dataset
collected by the Fair Labor Association (FLA). In particular, the article
Russell Smyth and Ingrid Nielsen are at Monash University. Xiaolei Qian and Ines Kaempfer
are at the Fair Labor Association.
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British Journal of Industrial Relations doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2011.00881.x
51:2 June 2013 0007–1080 pp. 382–408
© John Wiley & Sons Ltd/London School of Economics 2011. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd,
9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.
focuses on the determinants of working excessive hours, defined as in excess
of 60 hours per week and for more than six consecutive days. High rates of
economic growth in developing countries such as China and Thailand have,
to a large degree, been on the back of long working hours in blue-collar
occupations. This has focused attention on the potential adverse effects of
long working hours. One prominent, albeit tragic, example is a recent spate
of suicides by migrant workers at the Taiwanese-owned electronics plant,
Foxconn, in Shenzhen, China. Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics
manufacturer, assembles products in China for brands such as Apple, Dell
and Nokia. Between January and May 2010, there were 11 suicides and 3
attempted suicides in Shenzhen, and all but one occurred at Foxconn. In
response, Foxconn has installed safety nets between workers’ dormitory
buildings to prevent employees from attempting suicide by jumping off the
rooftops. A report by the workers’ rights watchdog, Solidarity International,
suggests that a primary reason for the suicides is the adverse effects of
excessive working hours. As Solidarity International (2010) put it: ‘Workers’
advocates and others report that Foxconn employees work long hours for
minimum wage and that they describe working under great pressure and
feeling extremely isolated’. This statement is not only true for Foxconn but
also applies to many supply chain factories in China and Thailand. This has
put the adverse effects of working long hours, such as the effects on mental
health, at the forefront of the policy debate in these countries and made
examination of hours worked and the determinants of excessive hours
worked, in particular, an important topic for research.
The article makes two contributions to the literature on hours worked. One
is that it is the first study to examine the determinants of hours worked in
developing countries. The other is a methodological contribution to the
literature on hours worked. With the exception of Bryan (2007), previous
studies have ignored the employer dimension to hours worked. The tradi-
tional approach to examining hours worked has been premised on the stan-
dard economic model of labour supply, in which hours worked, conditional
on the wage, depend only on workers’ ‘tastes’ for work (Bryan 2007). There
is, however, growing evidence that firm policies on hours worked matter. In
this article, we use a matched employer–employee dataset that allows us to
examine the effect of both worker characteristics and firm characteristics
on hours worked. While Bryan (2007) also employs a matched employer–
employee dataset for the United Kingdom, our dataset has the advantage
that in addition to data on firm characteristics, we also have data on firm
policies on hours worked.
Foreshadowing the main results, we find evidence of excessive overtime in
violation of the FLA Code of Conduct. We find significant country differ-
ences in the form excessive overtime takes. In China, excessive overtime is
more likely to take the form of working more than six consecutive days, while
in Thailand, it is more likely to take the form of working in excess of 60 hours
per week. We find that in addition to the demographic and human capital
characteristics of workers, firm-level characteristics are important in
Supply Chain Chinese and Thai Factories 383
© John Wiley & Sons Ltd/London School of Economics 2011.
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