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Social Upgrading in Global Supply Chains: Reframing Corporate Responsibilities

Ewan Kingston & Maria Carnovale

Business Ethics Quarterly2026https://doi.org/10.1017/beq.2025.10103article
AJG 3ABDC A
Weight
0.37

Abstract

Much philosophical literature on sweatshop ethics assumes that the individual branded marketers that sell consumer goods either employ sweatshop workers or can strongly influence the conditions under which those workers labor. This oversimplification misidentifies the rationale for and details of the responsibilities of big buyers for the labor standards in their supply chains. Throughout this article, we illustrate how philosophers’ “vertical integration” and “control” assumptions distort our understanding of the internal dynamics within supply chains. Under the more realistic assumption that big buyers have “constrained influence” over labor conditions in their supply chains, we show that big buyers retain the responsibility to work toward social upgrading goals. However, fulfilling such a responsibility requires big buyers to collectively cede power to third parties in supply chains in formalized and accountable ways. Recent developments in transnational industrial agreements, such as the International Accord, are examples of this commitment.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/beq.2025.10103

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@article{ewan2026,
  title        = {{Social Upgrading in Global Supply Chains: Reframing Corporate Responsibilities}},
  author       = {Ewan Kingston & Maria Carnovale},
  journal      = {Business Ethics Quarterly},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/beq.2025.10103},
}

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Social Upgrading in Global Supply Chains: Reframing Corporate Responsibilities

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Evidence weight

0.37

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06
M · momentum0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.