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Research area:

Responsible business

For more than a decade, Fafo's research into responsible business has focused on  business practice in its regulatory and social context, through scholarly and applied research and through an active engagement with business, government and civil society.

Fafo researchers play leading roles in the fields of business and human rights, corruption, and social assessments of business impacts. Fafo's research has contributed to the development of international norms regarding business performance - including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidance for conflict minerals - and helped to understand how states are fulfilling their duties in the areas of business and human rights and decent work.

Economies of Conflict
Human rights abuse and conflict financing activities are often widespread in the informal economies which characterize conflict and post-conflict areas. Warlords, political elites and business may all be involved in such activities, which can harm ordinary citizens, undermine socio-economic development, help to sustain ongoing conflict and increase the likelihood of future conflict. Fafo researchers are members of international research networks on the issue of business in conflict and have advised member states and the United Nations on approaches to companies in conflict zones.

Decent Work
Fafo has long been a leading source of knowledge about on the Norwegian labour market, including including on issues such as social dumping, labour market criminality and the challenges of European economic integration. Building on this tradition, Fafo is a founding member of the Just Jobs Nework and developer of the JustJobs IndexJustJobs Index, whcih promotes the examination and comparison of different countries’ ability to create and sustain JustJobs.

Legal Cultures and Corruption
Fafo's research into legal cultures addresses the links between low-level corruption and informal practice in transition countries. The research focuses on the attitudes and behaviour of ordinary citizens and legal professionals towards law, including the making, implementing and enforcing of the law and how these processes respond to external influences. Fafo's work seeks to understand how institutions in transitional and post-conflict states actually work and aims to contribute to enhancing the effectiveness of anti-corruption and human rights protections.

Ongoing projects

Review of literature on freedom of speech
Målet med studien er å samle og systematisere kunnskap om ytringsbetingelser for norske arbeidstakere på tvers av sektorer, med en særlig vekt på høyt utdannede arbeidstakere. Denne litteraturgjennomgangen vil gi kunnskap om hva som fremmer og hemmer ytringsfriheten i ulike deler av arbeidslivet, og vil gjøre det enklere for Tekna å jobbe videre med dette temaet.
Making the green shift work for regions (GSW)
Forskningsprosjektet GSW skal utvikle en ny forståelse av hvordan regionale arbeidsmarkeder og kunnskapsøkosystemer tilpasser seg utfordringer og muligheter i det grønne skiftet. Viktigere enn å undersøke utviklingen nasjonalt eller i næringer, mener vi det er å forstå responser på utfordringene i form av ulike tilpasninger og endringer i regioner.
Engaging workplaces: A social partners perspective on youth activation

Hvordan kan arbeidsplasser – bestående av arbeidsgivere, ansatte og organisasjonsstrukturene disse befinner seg i – utformes for å legge til rette for vellykket inkludering av sårbare ungdommer som sliter med å få ordentlig fotfeste i arbeidsmarkedet?

Phasing in and phasing out: reworking labour in energy transitions in the North Sea (PHASE)
PHASE vil utforske hvordan den grønne omstillingen påvirker arbeid og arbeidsorganisering i Norge og Skottland. Hvordan opplever og handler arbeidere i offshorerelaterte næringer - individuelt og kollektivt - overfor den grønne omstillingen?
Unions, Productivity and Technology

I dette prosjektet ønsker vi å undersøke nærmere hvordan produktivitetsutviklingen i norske foretak henger sammen med teknologisk utvikling og endringer i partssamarbeidets styrke på mikronivå. Vi vil også studere hvordan den teknologiske utviklingen både påvirker og kan bli påvirket av fagforeninger.

Other publications

Completed projects

Wage levels in industries with extended collective agreements 2022

Prosjektet skal kartlegge hvor mange som ligger under, på og over de allmenngjorte lønnssatsene i allmenngjorte bransjer. Datagrunnlaget er SSBs lønnsstatistikk for 2022. Resultatene skal sammenlignes med tilsvarende anslag for 2019-2021.

Platform work and social protection of platform workers in Jordan

Kartlegging av arbeidere og arbeidsforhold i digitale platformselskaper i Jordan

Legal Culture, Corruption and Law Enforcement: The Russian Case

The project aims to provide a "thick description" of Russian legal culture - incl. local understandings of the term corruption - and its impact on law-enforcement in Russia.

Legal Culture and Anti-Corruption Reform: the Case of the West Balkans (2010-14)

While quite a lot is known about corruption and anti-corruption efforts in post-communist states, we know less about the impact of anti-corruption reform.