The most interesting research questions of political economy are on those subjects which somehow injure our moral sensibilities, but where there is no clear policy avenue through which to address them.This book deals with just such a topic: while it is uncontroversial to say that a world without child labor would be better than one with, it is not clear that legislation, either national or international, will be successful in reducing it.This book presents some evidence that fits nicely with intuitions about child labor in the developing world. Regression analysis of panel data covering 150 countries from 1970-2004 shows that macroeconomic conditions are significant determinants of child labor, defined here as the percent of children ages 10-14 who participate in the workforce.The study shows that ratification of the ILO's child labor convention does not significantly predict lower levels of child labor, leaving the second part of the book to answer the question: If ratifying the child labor convention does not affect compliance, why do countries bother?