advanced theory and practice in sport marketing - Marshalls University

ETHICS IN SPORT RETAIL MANAGEMENT: SELLING SPORT
PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED BY CHILD LABOR – Continued
by far the greatest for children who work in construction and mining, sectors
that employ about 3% of working children.
Children also tend to work very long hours, leaving little time for school
even when it is available. In surveys of 20 countries, the ILO found that in
some countries more than half of the children who worked were doing so for9
or more hours per day and up to four-fifths of them did it 7 days a week. But
evidence on the relationship between school and work is mixed. In a study of
child labor in Côte d’Ivoire, World Bank economist Christian Grootaeert
found that working actually allowed many children to attend (afford) school.
Just as the importance of different forces varies across individual industries
and regions of the United States, there is a consensus in the field that no
one solution to the child labor problem can be applied to all countries. What
can be done to eliminate child labor will vary, depending on the level and distribution
of income, the availability of education, and the cultural factors
that influence child labor.
For the poorest of countries, it maybe impossible to really eliminate child
labor without income growth or some form of international aid. But for
countries with relatively more resources, a range of policy alternatives can
help bring about change. “Government can intervene in the market to create
a variety of incentives, such as providing better and more schools, giving
school meals, and improving conditions in the adult labor market, which
result in a reduction of child labor,” says Cornell economist Kaushik Basu.
What is to be done depends on the educational infrastructure in place. The
American example clearly showed that education played a key role. Better
educated workers in the United States were more productive and thus were
better able to provide for their own children, reducing the need for child
labor. However, for the permanent elimination of child labor, a cultural
change ultimately has to come from within developing countries.
Source: Adapted from Wasserman, M. (2000). Eliminating child labor. Regional Review
10(2): 8–17.
Suggested Discussion Topics
You are the Director of Marketing for a sport retail chain. You are sitting
in an office with the CEO of the company with a major dilemma. In an effort
to cut costs, the CEO is considering changing to a new manufacturer who
gets their products from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Cambodia. If costs are
not cut, there is a chance that the company could suffer, and possibly go into
bankruptcy. If costs are cut, the potential for consumer backlash because of
stocking products made by children living in third work economies may
also result in a decline in traffic, which in turn may negatively affect sales
and revenue, and may result in the possible same bottom line – bankruptcy.
Continued
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