This book discussing in detail the Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) of the global economy using the comprehensive Multi-Regional Input-Output (MRIO) technique. The content is presented in two parts, the first of which offers an introduction to social accounting and how it has been developed over the past few years with details on the methodologies and databases used. The second part of the book describes the footprints of the social accounts that have the highest impact on people’s well-being (employment, income, working conditions,and inequality) and how they are linked to international trade. The need for reporting on such indicators falls within the purview of corporate/national social responsibility (part of the Triple Bottom Line). The book offers a valuable contribution to the literature for researchers and students engaged in the social sciences, human rights, and the implications of international trade on labour in developing countries.iv>

The inclusion of qualitative social data into global environmental and economic input-output (IO) models remained illusive for many years. It was not until around 2013 that researchers found ways to include data, for example, on poverty, inequality, and worker safety, into IO models capable of tracing global supply chains. The sustainable development goals have now propelled this work onto the world stage with some urgency. They have shone a spotlight onto social conditions around the world and brought global trade into the frame for its ability to influence social conditions for good or ill. This book provides a compilation of groundbreaking work on social indicators from the most prominent IO research groups from a wide range of academic backgrounds and from around the world. In addition, it frames this work in the real world of politics, human rights, and business, bringing together a multidisciplinary team to demonstrate the power of IO to illuminate some of the world’s most pressing problems. Edited by well-known researchers in the area, Joy Murray, Arunima Malik, and Arne Geschke, the book is designed to appeal to a broad academic and business audience. While many chapters include technical details and references for follow-up reading, it is possible to omit those sections and yet gain a deep appreciation of the power of IO to address seemingly intractable problems.

This book adds a whole new dimension to the editors’ previous work on the social, economic, and environmental effects of global trade. For the first time it brings all three pillars of sustainability together into one coherent multiregional input–output (MRIO) framework. It shows the power of MRIO analysis to illuminate the local and global interdependencies of economic, environmental, and social systems and the benefits to be gained through analysing all three together. Change one thing and everything else changes. With chapters from around 60 researchers across 34 countries, this book illustrates the effect of natural resources and government policy settings 1990–2015 on the balancing act that was—and is—global trade. It provides a holistic systems’ view of how supply chains work, revealing how easily they can become fragmented and out of kilter. And within all the chaos of COVID-19 it shows how MRIO is the one tool that can help rebuild a post-pandemic global economy into a fairer, safer world.

How can we design more sustainable industrial and urban systems that reduce environmental impacts while supporting a high quality of life for everyone? What progress has been made towards reducing resource use and waste, and what are the prospects for more resilient, material-efficient economies? What are the environmental and social impacts of global supply chains and how can they be measured and improved? Such questions are at the heart of the emerging discipline of industrial ecology, covered in Taking Stock of Industrial Ecology. Leading authors, researchers and practitioners review how far industrial ecology has developed and current issues and concerns, with illustrations of what the industrial ecology paradigm has achieved in public policy, corporate strategy and industrial practice. It provides an introduction for students coming to industrial ecology and for professionals who wish to understand what industrial ecology can offer, a reference for researchers and practitioners and a source of case studies for teachers.

The multidimensional and intergenerational nature of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls for integrated policies. Progress made in a particular social, economic or environmental area or individual goal may generate synergies and trade-offs across dimensions (spillover effects), and steps taken in one country could have positive or negative impacts beyond national borders (transboundary effects).

This book explores social innovation and entrepreneurship in China. Focusing on selected social enterprises and processes, it addresses the question of "why China?", not in terms of military, economic or political ambitions, but in the terms of social innovation and welfare policies. The analyses range from detailed ethnography to discussions of broad global trends. Despite vastly improved social conditions in the country, there are still unresolved issues that social enterprises address. The study elaborates on the complexities involved in their positioning between the state and their beneficiaries. Adding to the complexity is China’s dual system of circulation and the moral economy of ethnic minorities. The theoretical foundation of the study is the Durkheimian concept of the social contract. Its content is viewed as comprised of Maussian total social facts or guanxi, a similar Chinese framing, operationalised to particular socio-cultural configurations. The empirical cases document how social enterprises reposition elements in the various configurations in order to mobilise resources from their stakeholders. The book concludes that the discursive topology is altered in the process and the social contract is renewed in culturally meaningful, if paradoxical, ways. This book will be of interest to researchers, students and academics in the fields of business and social entrepreneurship, especially to those with a particular interest in the Chinese case.

Global value chains (GVCs) powered the surge of international trade after 1990 and now account for almost half of all trade. This shift enabled an unprecedented economic convergence: poor countries grew rapidly and began to catch up with richer countries. Since the 2008 global financial crisis, however, the growth of trade has been sluggish and the expansion of GVCs has stalled. Meanwhile, serious threats have emerged to the model of trade-led growth. New technologies could draw production closer to the consumer and reduce the demand for labor. And trade conflicts among large countries could lead to a retrenchment or a segmentation of GVCs. World Development Report 2020: Trading for Development in the Age of Global Value Chains examines whether there is still a path to development through GVCs and trade. It concludes that technological change is, at this stage, more a boon than a curse. GVCs can continue to boost growth, create better jobs, and reduce poverty provided that developing countries implement deeper reforms to promote GVC participation; industrial countries pursue open, predictable policies; and all countries revive multilateral cooperation.