Complementary Labor Regulation: The Uncoordinated Combination of State and Private Regulators in the Dominican Republic

SummaryAlthough the ultimate success of labor regulation in many economic sectors depends on a combination of state and private actors, to date, researchers have not studied the interaction between state and private regulation. What happens when these forms of regulation meet on the factory floor? Based on a case study of labor inspection and code of conduct implementation in the Dominican Republic, this paper argues that the comparative advantages of state and private actors can drive complementary state–private regulation. These findings suggest that private-voluntary initiatives can reinforce, rather than displace, state regulation.