Research
Measuring Alta Gracia’s Impact
Alta Gracia has provided a unique opportunity to researchers seeking to measure the impact of a living wage on workers and their families.
"Georgetown University: The Alta Gracia Research Project"
- Alta Gracia: Four Years and Counting
August 2014 - Work With a Salario Digno
December 5, 2011 - Alta Gracia: Branding Decent Working Conditions
August 30, 2010
"Impact of a private sector living wage intervention on depressive symptoms among apparel workers in the Dominican Republic: a quasi-experimental study" BMJ Open — August 3, 2015
"Knights Apparel and the Alta Gracia Factory: Paying a Living Wage" Stanford Graduate School of Business — 2014
"The Association between a living wage and subjective social status and self-rated health: A quasi-experimental study in the Dominican Republic" Science Direct — September 28, 2014
Sewing Hope: How One Factory Changes the Apparel Industry
by Sarah Adler-Milstein and John Kline
Sewing Hope, a 2017 publication, tells the story of the impact and evolution of Alta Gracia.
The authors of the book weave together engaging personal stories, key details of each stage of the factory’s development and analysis informed by John Kline’s on-the-ground research and Sarah Adler-Milstein’s direct experience as a former WRC staff person charged with verifying Alta Gracia’s compliance with the living wage and other labor standards.
This book provides a comprehensive look at the factory’s origins, initial operations, business plan adjustments and impact on workers, their families, and the community in which the workers live. In addition to the thorough case study of Alta Gracia, the book explores the context for this project, the “race to the bottom” of global supply chains, and how Alta Gracia is helping to carve a different path.
Sewing Hope is published by the University of California Press and is available directly from the UC Press or from Amazon and other booksellers.