@article{2014:ebert:the_integr,
title = {The Integration of Labour Standards Concerns into the Environmental and Social Policy of the International Finance Corporation},
year = {2014},
note = {The present article examines how the International Finance Corporation
(IFC), the World Bank Group’s private sector finance institution,
has integrated labour standards concerns into its environmental and
social policy. Providing finance to companies in developing countries
where available capital is often scarce, the IFC has significant
economic leverage to influence the labour standards performance of
private sector actors. Through its “Performance Standards”,
adopted in 2006, the IFC makes compliance with a broad set of labour
standards a binding condition for access to its financial support.
This also involves a procedural framework to bring client companies
into compliance, including an external complaint mechanism under the
World Bank’s Compliance Advisory Ombudsman (CAO). However, a closer
look reveals a number of shortcomings that may undermine the
effectiveness of the Performance Standards in terms of fostering
labour standards. These range from the Performance Standards’
coherence with the ILO’s Core Labour Standards to loopholes allowing
companies to escape certain labour-related requirements by changing
their business structure. Furthermore, the relevant procedures involve
a high amount of discretion, which suggests that the ultimate outcomes
will depend significantly on the goodwill of the body reviewing the
complaint. Still, it appears that trade unions and NGOs have sometimes
been able to use the Performance Standards to enforce labour standards
vis-à-vis IFC client companies by triggering interventions by IFC
staff and the CAO. Despite their limitations, it seems therefore that
the IFC Performance Standards can at least occasionally serve as a
tool for addressing labour standards problems in developing countries
and should therefore be tested further.},
journal = {VRÜ Verfassung und Recht in Übersee},
pages = {229--249},
author = {Ebert, Franz Christian},
volume = {47},
number = {2}
}