The interests of consumers and employees can differ fundamentally. While it is in consumers’ interest to buy at the lowest prices, employees depend on good working conditions.
In the context of a consumer survey, which was based on information economics, Prof. Dr. Peter Kenning, Lasse Meißner (both University of Düsseldorf) and Prof. Dr. Christian Thorun (ConPolicy-Institute) investigate this tension. They show that it can be explained by the incapability of consumers to identify “good labour”. Hence they argue that consumer policy could work to counteract this phenomenon by increasing transparency in the market.
The results of this analysis are published in the June-Journal of Wirtschaftsdienst.