June 2009, Aaron Bernstein, Senior Research Fellow, Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard Law School
This paper explores how pension funds and other investors can obtain data on the long- term sustainability risks posed by the labor and human rights (LHR) activities of global corporations, with a specific focus on supply chains. A robust analysis of LHR portfolio risk requires independently audited assessments that adhere to elemental reporting principles, analogous to those that govern audited corporate financial statements. One model for such assessments can be found in the factory auditing system built by the Fair Labor Association (FLA). This paper should be read as a companion piece to “Incorporating Labor and Human Rights Risk into Investment Decisions
