Does investor origin matter? The multidimensional wellbeing and mental health of female workers in foreign-owned flower farms and apparel factories in Ethiopia

Investors from various origins in FDI employ a large number of female workers in Ethiopia, but one of the areas where there is lack of research is the well-being consequences of such jobs and whether these are uniform across investors from various origins. To address this gap, this study examined how investor origin is associated with the multidimensional well-being and mental health of female workers using survey data on 2,515 workers employed in foreign-owned flower and apparel sectors in Ethiopia. The investor’s origins are classified in the study into those who come from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) or non-OECD countries. Our findings revealed investor origin was not associated with the multidimensional well-being and mental health of female workers. This suggests that investors from both OECD and non-OECD countries, despite differing corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, still operate within global value chains that homogenize production systems and working conditions across various investors. This study also shows other findings: Having adequate income for daily sustenance was strongly and positively associated with worker multidimensional well-being and mental health. Besides, having larger financial social support network and higher education levels were associated with better workers’ multidimensional wellbeing whereas longer years of work in a farm or a firm and frequent migration were negatively associated with their mental health. These findings raise a policy dilemma regarding worker well-being in industries reliant on cheap labor.