Legitimacy and evasion: exploring organisational subversions of modern slavery principles through a neo-institutional lens

研究的理由随着对劳工滥用问题的日益关注，特别是立法和管理机构以及民间社会的关注，已经形成了一个可接受的公司行为框架。除了采取纯粹的道德立场之外，他们几乎不了解对诸如英国《现代奴隶制法案》（Modern Slavery Act）等新立法的坚定反应，也不了解为什么一些组织继续无视规范。这最终使被剥削者面临更大的风险，因为试图限制滥用的法律和其他结构受到缺乏经验调查结果的限制。缺乏对导致劳动剥削的管理和组织因素的理解意味着公司本身无法确保子公司、合作伙伴和供应商遵守标准，从而给利益相关者带来风险。这项研究旨在建立在对这些因素的新兴认识的基础上，这些因素可以赋予决策者权力。这三个国家正处于不同的制度形成阶段。英国主导了现代奴隶制的立法。近年来，阿联酋越来越关注这一问题；俄罗斯是三个国家中最不成熟的，尽管中国移民和朝鲜强迫劳动的事件，以及该国国家媒体对非政府组织报道的报道，最近提高了这一问题的知名度。主要研究问题：在英国、俄罗斯和阿拉伯联合酋长国（UAE），围绕现代奴隶制的制度压力是如何解决的？本研究旨在发展对劳动剥削方面的组织行为的新理解，并比较各国的制度环境和企业对它们的反应。为此，该研究将回答以下问题：1)与英国和生产现代奴隶制声明的公司的原籍国相关的制度因素是什么？2)这些因素如何影响对现代奴隶制压力的坚定回应？3)各国的企业行为与制度因素之间可以进行哪些比较？这些比较是如何变化的？假设：虽然Soundararajan、Spence和Rees（2018）对制度“逃避”的新兴研究提供了一个有用的研究参考点，但目前还没有发展出来。研究方法本研究将采用混合方法。对迄今为止在英国发表的大约10,000份现代奴隶制声明进行定量分析，将试图揭示对制度规范的遵守程度，并探索不同程度的遵守对原产国的影响。在定性阶段，对来自三个国家（英国、阿联酋和俄罗斯）的公司的大约20名业务经理进行访谈，然后对特定背景下不同形式的逃税有更广泛的了解。

Rationale for the researchThe increasing attention being paid to issues of labour abuse, particularly from legislative and regulatory bodies and civil society, has developed a framework of acceptable corporate behaviours. Beyond taking a purely ethical standpoint, there is little understanding of firm reactions to, for example, new legislation such as the UK Modern Slavery Act, or why some organisations continue to defy norms. This ultimately puts the exploited in greater risk, since legal and other structures which seek to limit abuses are constrained by lack of empirical findings. A lack of understanding of management and organisational factors leading to labour exploitation means that firms themselves are less able to ensure that subsidiaries, partners, and suppliers are upholding standards, creating risks to stakeholders. This research seeks to build on the emerging recognition of these factors which can empower decision makers.The three countries are at varying stages of institutional emergence. The UK has led legislation and on modern slavery. UAE has seen growing attention paid to the issue in recent years; Russia is the least mature of the three countries, although incidences of Chinese migrant and North Korean forced labour and coverage of NGO reports in the country's national media have recently increased the issue's profile.Key research questionsHow are institutional pressures around modern slavery addressed in the UK, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)?The research aims to develop new understanding of organisational behaviours with regard to labour exploitation, and to compare both the institutional environments and firm reactions to them across the countries. To that end, the research will answer the following questions:1) What are the institutional factors relevant to the UK and the origin country of companies producing modern slavery statements?2) How do these factors influence firm responses to modern slavery pressures?3) What comparisons can be drawn between firm behaviours to institutional factors across countries, and how are these changing?HypothesesNone developed as yet, though the emergent work on institutional "evasion" by Soundararajan, Spence, and Rees (2018) provides a useful study point of reference.Research methods to be usedThe research will adopt a mixed methods approach. A quantitative analysis of approximately 10,000 modern slavery statements published to date in the UK will seek to reveal the degree of compliance with institutional norms and explore the country of origin effects of different levels of compliance. A qualitative phase of interviews with approximately 20 business managers from companies domiciled in each of three countries (UK, UAE and Russia) will then obtain a broader understanding of differing forms of evasion in particular contexts.