Environmental Cost Allocation and Buyer-Supplier Dynamics in Bangladesh's Apparel GVC: The Sustainability-Sourcing Paradox under the EU CSDDD
Author
Hossain, Md Mojammel
Term
4. Term
Publication year
2026
Submitted on
2026-06-01
Pages
65
Abstract
This thesis examines how environmental costs are allocated between international buyers and Bangladeshi suppliers in the apparel global value chain, and what the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) may mean for these dynamics. Using a qualitative, embedded single case study grounded in a constructivist and interpretivist approach, the study combines eight semi-structured interviews with suppliers, buyers, and industry experts with documentary analysis of buyer sustainability reports, codes of conduct, and the CSDDD legal texts. Data were analyzed through thematic coding informed by global value chain governance, purchasing practices, and collective action theories. Findings show that environmental compliance has been institutionalized as a non-priced market-entry condition that systematically shifts costs onto suppliers. Intra-firm organizational decoupling and a fragmented multi-buyer structure reinforce this externalization, while suppliers rely on constrained operational, relational, and financial strategies to survive under cost-focused purchasing. The CSDDD is perceived as a legalization of existing private governance, with conditional potential to improve cost-sharing but a risk of further consolidating buyer power depending on how it is implemented. The thesis introduces the “sustainability–sourcing paradox” and the idea of “conditional redistribution,” and highlights the need to align sustainability commitments with purchasing practices to achieve more equitable outcomes.
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan miljøomkostninger fordeles mellem internationale købere og bangladeshiske leverandører i beklædningens globale værdikæde, og hvad EU’s direktiv om virksomheders bæredygtigheds-due diligence (CSDDD) kan betyde for disse dynamikker. Med et kvalitativt, indlejret enkelt-casestudie i en konstruktivistisk og fortolkende tradition kombinerer studiet otte semistrukturerede interviews med leverandører, købere og brancheeksperter med dokumentanalyse af køberes bæredygtighedsrapporter, adfærdskodekser og CSDDD’s retstekster. Data analyseres via tematisk kodning informeret af GVC-styring, indkøbspraksis og kollektive handlingsteorier. Resultaterne viser, at miljøcompliance er blevet et ikke-prissat markedsadgangskrav, hvor omkostninger systematisk skubbes over på leverandører. Intern organisatorisk afkobling hos købere og en fragmenteret fler-køberstruktur forstærker denne eksternalisering, mens leverandører må støtte sig til begrænsede driftsmæssige, relationelle og finansielle strategier for at overleve under prisfokuserede indkøb. CSDDD opfattes som en juridificering af eksisterende private styringsmekanismer med et betinget potentiale for mere retfærdig omkostningsfordeling, men også en risiko for yderligere magtkoncentration hos købere afhængigt af implementeringen. Afhandlingen introducerer begreberne “bæredygtighed–indkøbsparadokset” og “betinget omfordeling” og peger på behovet for at bringe bæredygtighedsløfter i overensstemmelse med indkøbspraksis for at opnå mere ligevægtige resultater.
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