 Racing to the bottom, or climbing to the top? Local responses to the internationalisation of trade in the Brazilian textile and garments industryRobson Sø Rocha International Journal of Business Environment, 2017, vol. 9, issue 3, 225-246 Abstract: This article explores how firms in the textile and garment industry in Brazil are responding to trade liberalisation and the entry of multinational retailers into the Brazilian market. We analyse the competitive responses of local garment firms and, relatedly, how these responses are impacting on the industry's use of water. We show that the effects of trade liberalisation on the strategies of local firms and the use of natural resources are dependent upon the prior capacity of local actors to mobilise financial and human resources. In our case, contrary to the 'pollution havens' hypothesis, there is no indication that the regulatory framework has been downgraded to attract multinational companies (MNCs) or to help local firms cope with international competition. We claim that races to both the top and bottom are taking place as responses to the new competitive conditions. Keywords: trade liberalisation; sustainability; textiles industry; garment industry; Brazil; institutional complementarities; local responses; internationalisation of trade; racing to the bottom; multinational companies. (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijbenv:v:9:y:2017:i:3:p:225-246 Access Statistics for this article More articles in International Journal of Business Environment from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.