An empirical examination of a multinational ethical ilemma: The issue of child labor

Today's global marketplace presents a variety of ethical dilemmas for multinational corporations. This ethical decision-making process becomes particularly challenging when the ethical standards in the company's home country are higher than those in host markets. One global ethical issue that has received significant attention in international research is that of child labor, particularly the minimum age of employment. This article examines the issue of corporate ethical policies on the minimum age for child labor in emerging markets by using the universalist versus relativist ethical framework. Study results show that while both home and host consumers overwhelmingly prefer the universalist approach, the relativist option is acceptable only when the context of the host country is explained to both groups.