Do Labor Provisions in Trade Agreements Improve Labor Rights?

Jaime Miravet () and Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso ()
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Jaime Miravet: Deptartment of Economics, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain
Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso: Department of Economics and Center for Statistics, Georg-August Universitaet Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany & IEI and Department of Economics, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain

No 2026/01, Working Papers from Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain)

Abstract: This paper examines how labor provisions in trade agreements affect labor rights in developing countries. Using panel data for 105 developing countries from 1995 to 2021 and an instrumental variables strategy to address endogeneity, we estimate the effects on both de jure and de facto labor rights. We construct novel measures capturing not only the category but also the depth of labor provisions, drawing on the ILO’s Labor Provisions in Trade Agreements Hub, which covers 79 thematic areas. We find that binding provisions improve de jure labor rights but do not affect de facto outcomes, thereby widening the gap between law and practice. Non-binding provisions show no significant effects, highlighting both the importance and limitations of enforceability and depth in labor provisions.

Keywords: labor provisions; trade agreements; labor rights; enforceability; provision depth; developing countries. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F13 J83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:jau:wpaper:2026/1

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