Why sweatshops are good

On both sides of the political spectrum, we are hearing the danger that outsourcing poses on hard working Americans. This idea, like the anti-sweatshop movement, hurts the people it intends to help. While many workers, especially unskilled worker, have found themselves unemployed as factories and plants move to low-income countries, the rest of Americans are better off as a result, as cheaper goods allow them to have stronger purchasing power.

While a system of compensation should be in place, we cannot forget the key economic principle of comparative advantage. Pioneered by 19th-century British economist David Ricardo, the theory of comparative advantage states that all countries should concentrate their efforts on industries which they have a natural advantage in and which they can produce more efficiently than competing countries.

If a country can produce a good at a lower cost than another country, it should specialize in producing that good in order to keep prices low and to maximize efficiency and productivity.

Because countries like China and Bangladesh have a natural surplus of low skill labor, the theory of comparative advantage states that it these nations should be producing products that require cheap low skill labor, rather than advanced nations like the US. Fighting these market forces and bringing back these undesirable jobs will not only harm global development but unnecessarily raise prices and reduce inefficiency.

Not to mention the fact that most of the jobs which have been outsourced have left permanently and no amount of political pressure will bring them back. China, which has received a lot of criticism for taking once American jobs, is experiencing outsourcing as well, as manufacturing jobs move to Vietnam due to the growth of Chinese wages.

However we may feel about sweatshops, boycotts are not the answer and pressuring corporations to bring these jobs back to the US would hinder global development and raise the cost of living for Americans.

The feeling of self-righteousness, although noble and well-intended, does more harm than good. What would be best is to adjust to the forces of the market, rather than resist them. Despite its imperfections, globalization has been making the world a better place for millions. Your email address will not be published. Skip to content. Garry Canepa A dark facet of the global economy which makes many Western shoppers queasy is the process behind how products are made.

Discover Membership. Editions Quartz. More from Quartz About Quartz. Follow Quartz. These are some of our most ambitious editorial projects. By Michael J. Coren Climate and emerging industries editor. Published October 7, This article is more than 2 years old. Simply put, as bad as sweatshops are, most alternatives much worse. And the numbers bear this out.

In half of those countries, income rose to three times the national average. And this study from researchers at Duke University found that sweatshop workers in El Salvador believed that their factory jobs represented an improvement over their previous jobs in areas such as working conditions, job stability, location, benefits and schedule.

The research is pretty clear that sweatshops are significantly better than alternatives, but something is lost when you reduce the difference to numbers alone.

It helps us empathize with sweatshop workers if we imagine the kinds of jobs they go to when factory work is not an option. Before they work in sweatshops, most factory workers in developing countries work in subsistence agriculture, which is one of the three most dangerous industries in the world according to the International Labor Organization — rivaled only by construction and mining.

And sweatshops not only reduce poverty, but they also provide empowerment for women. Research has shown that work in sweatshops delays marriage and pregnancy for women and girls, and also increases their school enrollment. Poor women in developing countries are among the most vulnerable people on the planet. Support of sweatshops is a feminist position. Tax Freedom Day. About Adam Smith. The Theory of Moral Sentiments.

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