TY  - JOUR
AU  - Doepke,Matthias
AU  - Zilibotti,Fabrizio
TI  - Do International Labor Standards Contribute to the Persistence of the Child Labor Problem?
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 15050
PY  - 2009
Y2  - June 2009
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15050
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15050.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Matthias Doepke
Northwestern University
Department of Economics
2001 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208
Tel: 847-491-8207
E-Mail: doepke@northwestern.edu

Fabrizio Zilibotti
Department of Economics
University of Zurich
Mühlebachstrasse 86
CH-8008 Zürich
Switzerland
Tel: +41 44 6345188
E-Mail: fabrizio.zilibotti@econ.uzh.ch
AB  - In recent years, a number of governments and consumer groups in rich countries have tried to discourage the use of child labor in poor countries through measures such as product boycotts and the imposition of international labor standards. The purported objective of such measures is to reduce the incidence of child labor in developing countries and thereby improve children's welfare. In this paper, we examine the effects of such policies from a political-economy perspective. We show that these types of international action on child labor tend to lower domestic political support within developing countries for banning child labor. Hence, international labor standards and product boycotts may delay the ultimate eradication of child labor.
ER  -