Luisa Bunescu

Social Dumping: Between Disloyal Competition and Mere Allegation: a Case Study on Romania Luisa Bunescu

In a very interdependent world economy as the one we are experiencing today, social dumping is a serious accusation. It means that certain countries or businesses make more profit by exporting products at trifling prices as they follow weak or poorly enforced labor standards. Not often led this social dumping allegation to clashes within the European Union. The Polish plumber or the Romanian blue collars became the archetypes of disloyal competition. This book aims to provide the reader with a substantive understanding of this phenomenon, pointing to the misconception that low wages mean necessarily market dumping. Salient features and challenges of the Common European Market are broached in order to set the stage for a case study. This one depicts the allegation of social dumping in Romania, EU Member State since 2007 with low paid workforce. Staying away from an advanced economic jargon, the analysis is helpful for all those who want to further themselves from a populist rhetoric, by better understanding the distinction between social dumping and competitive advantage. It should be especially useful for those who want to gain a deeper insight on the European construction.