Michael J. Hiscox

RELATED RESEARCH GROUP:
Harvard-MIT Private Governance Research Group

RECENT PAPERS:
Hiscox, Michael J., Claire Schwartz, and Michael Toffel. Evaluating the Impact of SA8000 Certification. Version 5/20/08. Reviews existing evaluations of private codes governing workplace conditions and discusses best practices for evaluation studies in other domains. We argue for incorporating these practices in evaluations of codes like SA8000 to make clear causal inferences about impact, distinguishing selection effects from treatment effects. (This paper will be published in in SA8000 The First Decade: Implementation, Influence, and Impact, Deborah Leipziger (ed.). London: Greenleaf, 2009, forthcoming.)

Hiscox, Michael J. Fair Trade and Globalization. Version: 2/27/07 Provides an overview of the Fair Trade movement and argues that the major critcisms leveled against Fair Trade are unwarranted. I suggest that the primary question is whether there is enough demand among ethically-minded consumers to allow for the development of the market beyond its current foothold. (Originally written as a briefing memorandum for a Princeton conference on Europe and the management of globalization, this has since been translated and published in Ensayos de economia cafetera).

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