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62 Int'l J.L. & Mgmt. 1 (2020)

handle is hein.journals/ijlm62 and id is 1 raw text is: The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1754-243X.htm Mechanisms of labour exploitation: the case of Pakistan Muhammad Arslan Bang College of Business, KIMEP University, Almaty, Kazakhstan Abstract Purpose - The issue of exploitative labour practices has been a persistent and recurring problem in the textile and garment industry. Despite increased media, policy and practitioners attention the evidence base remains unexplored. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has acknowledged the presence of labour exploitation in global supply chains because of private sectors' employment practices. The purpose of this study is to apprehend views of multilevel stakeholders to explore the nature and driving mechanisms of exploitation. Design/methodology/approach - Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 76 respondents from 25 factories from 3 cities of Pakistan i.e. Faisalabad, Lahore and Gujranwala. Convenient and snowball sampling techniques were used because of the complexity of research settings. Transcribed data was analysed with the help of NVivo. Findings - Drawing on qualitative evidence, the study reveals that workers experience a range of exploitation at the workplace, which is unlikely to fall within the scope of severe exploitation. The findings reveal that three types of exploitation exist in Pakistan's textile and garment industry such as financial, physiological and psychological. Power inequality is the foundation and a fundamental cause of the endurance of exploitation. The study found three mechanisms that facilitate the endurance of exploitation, i.e. distance, profit and oppression. Research limitations/implications - The study contributes to supply chain literature by exemplifying power inequality. It is crucial for the government to step up efforts to stipulate a minimum wage rate in the textile and garment industry to alleviate labour exploitation. The findings provide motivation for policy and decision-makers to implement incremental changes to global supply chains to protect the rights and welfare of workers, according to the standards of social accountability 8000, the ILO and other world trade stakeholders. Originality/value - This study argues that the international and local instruments do not specifically address the severe labour exploitation in Pakistan textile and garment industry. Therefore, the need arises to develop a specific instrument to address the problem. In the absence of such an instrument, there is a piecemeal approach by international and local bodies towards the regulation of labour exploitation. Keywords Workplace, Supply chain, Exploitation, Social accountability, Textile and garment industry Paper type Research paper Introduction Exploitation has been a problem of uninterrupted debate in the supply chain literature. Most of the existing studies are limited to features of developing country settings and global retailers initiatives (Burnett and Mahon, 2001) and have made little effort to identify the causes of labour exploitation. This study fills up the gap by drawing the evidence from an emerging market, Pakistan, specifically in the textile and garment industry. This study apprehended views of multilevel stakeholders from both public and private factories to reveal the cause of exploitation. Based on the analytical lenses of institutional theory, the study develops an understanding of how exploitation takes place from the pressure of institutional actors. Systematically, a critical lens of inquiry is espoused to expose the veiled Mechanisms of labour exploitation 1 Received 9 July 2018 Revised 20 November 2019 Accepted 10 February 2020 International Journal of Law and M~anagemnent Vol.62 No. 1,2020 pp. 1-21 ©EmeraldPublishingLimcd 1754-243X DOI 10.110S/IjLMA0Y-2018-0145

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