The UN Global Compact: an effective way to improve labour standards?

The UN Global Compact, the biggest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative in the world, marks a new era for the debate on globalisation, for the perception of business in the society as well as for improving labour standards. This UN - business partnership can be seen as a turning point as business is not seen as the problem anymore but as part of the solution to the challenges of globalisation. By the same way, globalisation is not seen as an irreversible process leading to an inevitable race to the bottom in wages and labour conditions but as potentially bringing positive effects. This paper evaluates to which extent the UN Global compact is an effective way of promoting labour standards.