This article explores the impact of economic globalization on workers’ rights in developing countries. We hypothesize that the impact of globalization on labor rights depends not only on the overall level of economic openness, but also on the precise ways in which a country participates in global production networks. Using a new dataset on collective labor rights, we test these expectations. Our analysis of the correlates of labor rights in ninety developing nations, for 1986-2002, highlights globalization’s mixed impact on labor rights. As “climb to the top” accounts suggest, FDI inflows are positively and significantly related to the rights of workers. But, at the same time, trade competition generates downward, “race to the bottom” pressures on collective labor rights. We also find that domestic institutions and labor rights in neighboring countries are important correlates of workers’ rights.
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