SummaryIn this study, we present an analysis of the average wages paid for producing direct and indirect imports of nations using employment and income footprints. An employment footprint includes a country's domestic employment and that occurring along the supply chains of, and hence embodied in, its imported goods and services. Our results allow us to group the world's nations into "masters" that enjoy a lifestyle supported by workers in other countries and "servants" that support the lifestyle of master countries. We show that, in 2010, employment footprints of countries differed substantially from their own workforce footprints. Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Switzerland occupy the top-ranking positions of master countries, whereas many African and Asian countries are servants. Our findings show that the commodities that are "servant intensive," such as electronics, agricultural products, and chemicals, tend to have complex supply chains often originating in third-world countries. The quantification of these master-servant relationships and the exposing of implicated supply chains could be of benefit to those concerned with their corporate social responsibility and committed to fairer trading or those developing policy around fair globalization.

In this study we use economic input-output analysis to calculate the inequality footprint of nations. An inequality footprint shows the link that each country's domestic economic activity has to income distribution elsewhere in the world. To this end we use employment and household income accounts for 187 countries and an historical time series dating back to 1990. Our results show that in 2010, most developed countries had an inequality footprint that was higher than their within-country inequality, meaning that in order to support domestic lifestyles, these countries source imports from more unequal economies. Amongst exceptions are the United States and United Kingdom, which placed them on a par with many developing countries. Russia has a high within-country inequality nevertheless it has the lowest inequality footprint in the world, which is because of its trade connections with the Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe. Our findings show that the commodities that are inequality-intensive, such as electronic components, chemicals, fertilizers, minerals, and agricultural products often originate in developing countries characterized by high levels of inequality. Consumption of these commodities may implicate within-country inequality in both developing and developed countries.

Summary Although evidence indicates the significant incidence of child labor in India, the role it plays in the economy is still considerably unknown. This study used disaggregated labor data and evaluated local and global supply chains to develop the first comprehensive and systematic assessment of Indian child labor involved in the production of commodities consumed worldwide, considering trade between more than 15,000 industrial sectors across 189 countries. Five questions were addressed: Which children are in child labor?; What is being produced with that labor?; Who are the final consumers?; What amount of financial resources would be needed to support these children?; and What would be the increase in labor production costs if adults were to replace children? It was found that of 9,687,688 children in child labor during July 2011 to June 2012, 95% of cases were linked to the production of just 35 commodities. Whereas most of these commodities were locally consumed, as many as 980,084 children (around 10%) worked for exports, more than what is typically assumed. Exports mainly consisted of agricultural and food products, clothing, minerals, and construction materials and were predominantly destined to 26 countries, the United States ranking first. Nonetheless, this study supports the notion that the simple removal of foreign demand will not solve the problem; it is poverty that needs to be addressed. Supporting children with allowances equal to their earnings would require 935 billion Indian Rupees, within a 13‐year period. If adult workers were to replace children, total production costs may increase only by around 1%.

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In this study we use economic input-output analysis to calculate the inequality footprint of nations. An inequality footprint shows the link that each country's domestic economic activity has to income distribution elsewhere in the world. To this end we use employment and household income accounts for 187 countries and an historical time series dating back to 1990. Our results show that in 2010, most developed countries had an inequality footprint that was higher than their withincountry inequality, meaning that in order to support domestic lifestyles, these countries source imports from more unequal economies. Amongst exceptions are the United States and United Kingdom, which placed them on a par with many developing countries. Russia has a high within-country inequality nevertheless it has the lowest inequality footprint in the world, which is because of its trade connections with the Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe. Our findings show that the commodities that are inequality-intensive, such as electronic components, chemicals, fertilizers, minerals, and agricultural products often originate in developing countries characterized by high levels of inequality. Consumption of these commodities may implicate within-country inequality in both developing and developed countries.