Global Value Chains, Labor Rights, and the Nature of Transnational Law.

This article examines the regulation of working conditions in global value chains (GVCs) and challenges the common view that GVCs represent a fundamental break from earlier state-centered legal regimes. It argues for a "monist" perspective, viewing sovereignty as a bundle of rights distributed among states and private actors within a single, contested transnational legal order that has existed historically. The article demonstrates that policy tools traditionally used to improve labor standards—such as labor law harmonization through treaties or collective bargaining and subsidies to enhance firm competitiveness—remain relevant and effective in both pre- and post-GVC contexts. It further situates these findings within a broader legal theory that conceptualizes global law as a unified but decentralized system of overlapping public and private norms, emphasizing the potential for legal reform to improve labor conditions despite the complexity of transnational governance.