Example corporate responsibility dissertation topic 3:

A review of the fashion industry and child labour within the Chinese, Indian and African labour markets

The regional variability of child labour rates employed within the last twenty years has been seen by leading academics to be partially dependent upon economic growth rates experienced within individual developing countries. Basu (1999) notes that Africa still has a higher preponderance for child labour and this dissertation, focussing on the contracting out of fashion manufacturing to India, China and Africa analyses both the procedures that western firms put into place to mitigate against the continued exploitation of children as well as the underlying societal values that continue to permit the on-going degradation of children within the host nations.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Jensen, P. and Neilsen, H.S. (1997) ‘Child labour or school attendance? Evidence from Zambia’, Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 10(4), pp. 407-424.
• Myrstad, G. (1999) ‘What can trade unions do to combat child labour?’, Childhood, Vol. 6(1), pp. 75-88.