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- Convenors:
-
Abiodun Egbetokun
(National Centre for Technology Management, Nigeria)
Sara Grobbelaar (Stellenbosch University)
Adedamola Adeyeye (National Centre for Technology. Management)
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- Formats:
- Papers
- Stream:
- Inclusive development?
- Location:
- Christodoulou Meeting Rooms East, Room 1
- Sessions:
- Wednesday 19 June, -, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
Discourse on global value chains has focussed on governance and opportunities for technological or functional upgrading of firms in developing countries. This panel will however focus on development issues by examining the impact of value chain activities on poverty, gender and environment.
Long Abstract:
Traditionally, literature on Global Value Chains (GVCs) has been inundated by the opportunities that SMEs have when they participate in the global economy. However, in developing countries where firms are largely informal, they find it more difficult to enter GVCs, unless they are part of a well-established and integrated industrial cluster. This is important in developing country context because SMEs dominate the economic landscape with wide implications for income, employment, export and livelihoods of millions of people. In order to open up development, narrative on GVCs should shift to development concerns with particular attention to the impact of value chain activities on poverty, inequality, gender and the environment rather than the narrow focus on value chain governance and the opportunities for technological or functional upgrading of traders and producers.
This panel will seek empirical and theoretical papers that will focus on inclusion and exclusion requirements and terms and preconditions under which small firms and individual participate in the value chain. Specific attention will focus on studies that address gender issues both in relation to the upgrading process itself and the implications on poverty. Other areas will include labour issues such as terms under which workers participate in the value chain, income and personal health. Furthermore, studies with emphasis on the impact that production or processing in value chain activities has on the resource base and its surroundings will also be considered. In all, case studies on different global value chains which have implications for inclusive development will be encouraged.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Wednesday 19 June, 2019, -Paper short abstract:
The challenge of poverty and unemployment facing many developing countries is traceable to weak beneficiation capabilities of SMEs participating in GVCs. This paper proposes a conceptual framework that mainstreams development concerns in the process and outcome of SMEs capability building in GVCs.
Paper long abstract:
Many developing economies, particularly in Africa, rely on export of primary products (particularly agricultural products and natural resources). Most of the domestic firms, usually SMEs, lack the capability to implement value-addition processes; hence, they enjoy limited benefits from participation in global value chains (GVCs). It is therefore not surprising that African countries have low levels of industrial development.
However, focusing on capability building without mainstreaming development concerns in production and processing activities will not engender inclusive development. Hence, the primary objective of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for integrating development concerns in GVCs, especially as it relates to the participation of developing country SMEs. This is important because SMEs dominate the economic landscape of developing countries and provide livelihood opportunities for millions of people. While most studies on GVCs focus on enhancing the capabilities of SMEs through upgrading and scaling, this paper examines the inclusiveness of the process and outcome of capability building of SMEs participating in GVCs. The framework identifies the factors responsible for the weak domestic capabilities. In addressing these and consequently integrating SMEs into GVCs, efforts should be inclusive. For instance, institutions and policies enacted to enable upgrading and scaling should be gender-sensitive. Also, the spill-over effects of upgrading on livelihood of local communities should be considered. This is because the impact of upgrading on resource base and environment in local communities is important. More often than not, the economic and health consequences of environmental changes are gender-, wealth- and status-dependent.
Paper short abstract:
The paper re-claims the role of firms and states in shaping innovation and upgrading among SMEs in regional and global value chains. This is achieved through a comparative case study of Kenyan handbag and footwear manufacturers.
Paper long abstract:
The surge of trade in global value chains (GVCs) has prompted a vast literature on the relationship between multinational firms in developed economies and delocalised suppliers in the global South. Nevertheless, less attention has been paid to how firms in developing countries upgrade production and self-select into regional and global markets. By focusing on the firm as the fulcrum of value-addition, this article overcomes the vertical approach dominating the literature and (re)claims the centrality of firms and regulatory governance in shaping innovation and upgrading across local, regional, and global value chains.
This is achieved through a comparative analysis of firms' upgrading in the Kenya leather handbag and footwear subsectors. In the former, local access to foreign knowledge within emerging SMEs and a sense of distrust towards state policies favoured a process of learning and differentiation which prompted upgrading and participation in competitive global markets. Conversely, in the latter, a system originally dominated by large subsidised firms and apprenticeship-based learning led to the cutback of production costs, quality, and labour conditions, further triggering informalisation and limiting participation in GVCs. In this context, the overreliance of footwear producers on public institutions discouraged rather than favour innovation and upgrading.