IS IT WORTH THE SWEAT?: A NATURAL EXPERIMENT ON EMPLOYMENT AND WORKER'S RIGHTS CAUSED BY SWEATSHOPS IN SANTA ANA AND SAN MIGUEL, EL SALVADOR

Sweatshops do not have a good reputation, often deservedly so. However, despite popular belief, sweatshops can also play a positive role, especially in conditions of abject poverty and unemployment. I investigate the consequences of sweatshops on a variety of outcomes (poverty, unemployment, class/gender equality, and workers' rights) through the application of a natural experiment methodology to El Salvador. Two of the country's largest cities, which are otherwise very similar, have starkly different incidences of sweatshops (high in Santa Ana, low in San Miguel). Using a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods and information from several different sources (including reports from the Central Intelligence Agency, United States Agency for International Development, Human Rights Watch, United Nations, and the United States Department of State) I argue that the presence of a large sweatshop industry in Santa Ana improved economic opportunities as well as workers' rights compared to those in San Miguel. I also consider (and reject) alternative explanations for the better performance of Santa Ana. In a country reeking with havoc since its’ founding, I examine the progression of its’ economy specific to Santa Ana and San Miguel. Similar to many Latin American countries, El Salvador originated as a monoculture export economy yet drastically flipped to a country of industry (largely textile). Finally, I examine the history of the sweatshop industry in El Salvador, and why the industry took off in Santa Ana but not in San Miguel after the end of the bloody civil war in 1992. After years of bloodshed, the apparent difference in two cities comparable in history, culture, ethnicity, and geography in economic opportunity and poverty is a divide that simply cannot be ignored.

Additional Abstract Information

Student(s): Rachel M. Boyell

Department: Justice Studies, Sociology

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Suraj Jacob

Type: Oral

Year: 2012