Organisation
Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO)
Research organisation on CSR and labour conditions
SOMO, or the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, is a Dutch research and advisory bureau that, since 1973, has been investigating the consequences of corporate policies of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) and the consequences of the internationalisation of business for developing countries in particular.
SOMO's field of expertise includes international guidelines, international treaties, and codes of conduct for MNEs, and the implementation of these norms in practice. SOMO specialises in research on labour conditions in developing countries, in cooperation with local organisations and labour unions.
The website includes access to SOMO research on the following themes:
- company research
- corporate social responsibility
- country, sector and chain research
- international trade and investment
- research for labour unions and employee councils
Published Documents
- Fatal fashion: Analysis of recent factory fires in Pakistan and Bangladesh: a call to protect and respect garment workers’ lives
- Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, 2013
- The garment industry in both Bangladesh and Pakistan is recognised for paying low wages, demanding and unsafe working conditions, and the repression of unions. Workers are not organised and therefore not in the position to monitor or ...
- Working conditions of Dalit garment workers
- M. Theuws (ed); P. Overeem (ed); M. Peepercamp (ed) / Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, 2012
- In Tamil Nadu young women workers continue to suffer exploitative working conditions while making garments for Western brands. Thousands of girls work under recruitment and employment schemes that amount to bonded labour. In this repo...
- Business as Usual - How Free Trade Agreements Jeopardise Financial Sector Reform
- M. Vander Stichele / Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, 2010
- In contrast with the current wide-ranging financial reform agenda in the European Union (EU), the EU continues to liberalise a wide range of risky and non-risky financial services in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) a...
- Putting Contract Research Organisations on the Radar
- I. Schipper / Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, 2011
- It is a trend for pharmaceutical companies to contract third parties to conduct their clinical trials in order to test their drugs. This trend is referred to as outsourcing, and the companies that carry out the work are called contrac...
- Radioactive Revenues: Financial Flows between Uranium Mining Companies and African Governments
- Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, 2011
- For African countries, the revenue derived from the uranium mining operations of multinational corporations is despite the high price of uranium minimal, uncertain and volatile. The financial agreements that these countries make with ...
- Bitter Fruit - Socio-economic Issues in Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Supply Chains of Dutch Supermarkets – The Case of Ahold
- S. van der Wal / Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, 2011
- Imports of fresh fruit and vegetables from developing countries to the Netherlands are increasing and the majority of these imports is handled by the Dutch supermarkets. Although exports of fresh fruits and vegetables (FFV) provide jo...
- The Electric Car Battery - Sustainability in the Supply Chain
- T. Steinweg / Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, 2011
- This report aims to provide an initial overview of the supply chain of electric car batteries, and to answer the following research question: What effect does the growing demand for electric vehicles have on the social and environment...
- The absence of normative standards for sustainable electricity provision in developing countries
- J. Wilde-Ramsing; T. Steinweg; E. Reynolds (ed) / Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, 2009
- This report addresses the impact of electricity provision by three companies on sustainable development in Latin America, specifically looking at Argentina and Peru. The report examines the corporate social responsibility (CSR) polici...
- The food processing industry and sustainable development
- M. Vander Stichele; S. van der Wal / Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, 2008
- This report analyses the contribution that primary and full processing of food can make to poverty reduction and sustainable development within the current international context. First, the report provides insights into the level of p...
- Labour conditions in Philippine's ICT sector
- Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, 2007
- This study focuses on labour conditions in the supply chain of information and communication technology (ICT) sector in the Philippines. The ICT sector dominates the Philippine electronics industry contributing 49.5 percen...
