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- Convenors:
-
Giovanni Pasquali
(University of Manchester)
Stephanie Barrientos (GDI, University of Manchester)
Khalid Nadvi (University of Manchester)
Matt Alford (University of Manchester)
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- Formats:
- Papers
- Stream:
- Business, finance and digital technologies
- Sessions:
- Tuesday 29 June, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
South-south regional value chains (RVCs) are increasingly led by Southern lead firms governing through private standards. This panel examines the role of firms, states, and civil society in the governance RVCs in the global South generally and in relation to the recent Covid-19 pandemic.
Long Abstract:
The recent rise of South-South trade has spurred an expansion of domestic and regional value chains (RVCs) in Africa, Asia and Latin America (Horner&Nadvi,2018). Southern firms now play a leadership role in the governance of RVCs, setting private standards for supplier compliance (covering decent work and fair trade) (Pickles et al,2016). However, we know little about whether Southern lead firms, who face limited civil society pressure and increasing South-South competition, pursue private governance of social standards? Alternatively, could the expansion of RVCs open up new channels for more effective state regulation of trade and social standards? Furthermore, while increasing attention is being paid to the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic for firms in the global South supplying retailers in Europe, we know less about its impact on RVCs in the global South.
Submissions are invited on questions that include but are not limited to:
• How does participation in RVCs led by Southern firms affect suppliers and workers in Africa, Asia and Latin America?
• Has the expansion of South-South RVCs enhanced or undermined social standards?
• What has been the impact of Covid-19 on suppliers and workers in RVCs? And how does this compare to what we know about global value chains?
• What is the role of states and multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) in regulating RVCs both generally and in relation to the recent Covid-19 pandemic?
• Can civil society actors and MSIs in the global South shape public-private governance of social standards in RVCs that overlap with GVCs?
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Tuesday 29 June, 2021, -Paper short abstract:
The literature is at an early stage in understanding the implications that the expansion of regional value chains in the global South has for decent work. This paper analyses labour standards in apparel RVCs with a focus on workers in Southern Africa, and compares such standards with those in GVCs.
Paper long abstract:
The paper will examine labour standards and compliance with standards primarily from the perspective of workers. It draws on a combination of 140 questionnaires (eSwatini (41) and Lesotho (99)) and 20 focus group discussions with 150 workers across, we explore decent work in terms of measurable standards (i.e. type of employment, wages, social protection, health and safety standards) and enabling rights (i.e. freedom of association, right to collective bargaining, non-discrimination, voice and empowerment in the firm) in RVCs, and further compare them to those in GVCs. We find in broad terms that, whilst in GVCs decent work is largely dependent on private codes of conduct enforced by global lead firms, in RVCs, it is shaped by a more complex interaction of governments, trade unions, and personal linkages between territorially embedded buyers and suppliers. Despite this difference, preliminary results for eSwatini reveal no significant difference in enabling rights across RVCs and GVCs. Importantly, however, we find variations in both measurable standards and enabling rights across two different types of RVCs: workers at large manufacturing plants directly contracted by South African retailers enjoy overall better scores across all decent work indicators compared to workers in smaller suppliers operating through intermediaries (known as design houses) and feeding into large discount retailers. Overall, the paper contributes to GVC research, increasing our understanding of how the emergence of RVCs in the global South impact on decent work.
Paper short abstract:
The paper explores textile value chain governance in West Africa, suggesting that trader-governed chains are better adapted to volatile South markets than those directed by lead firms. It also argues that trader-run chains were resilient and resourceful in responding to COVID-19.
Paper long abstract:
African print textile (APT) value chains have a long history in West Africa. First introduced by the Dutch during the colonial period, APT soon became special-occasion (then everyday) wear for a majority of West Africans. Today APT popularity continues, although China has recently replaced the Netherlands as the chief manufacturer of this cloth. This paper explores the way in which the APT market in West Africa is being restructured with the rise of China in a context of shifting North-South and South-South value chains in the cloth markets of Lomé, Togo, long a hub of APT distribution for the larger sub-region. The article uses GVC analysis to examine the structure of these competing value chains, one vertically integrated and lead-firm directed, the other fragmented and trader-governed, and to explore their intersection. Analytically, it focuses on value chain governance within a context of South-South value chain ascendancy, arguing that trader-centered governance, a governance regime attuned to the volatility of trade in the global South, has distinct advantages over lead firms. The presentation concludes by examining the response of APT value chains to the COVID-19 pandemic, one that reveals trader-run value chains as resilient and resourceful while also offering further advantage to Chinese (South-South) APT chains
Paper short abstract:
Suppliers in the global South are increasingly involved in multichain networks across North- and South-South value chains. This paper asks whether and to what extent multichain strategies affect suppliers’ economic upgrading? We explore this through the case of Kenya’s horticulture suppliers.
Paper long abstract:
An extensive body of research has examined the prospects for suppliers in the global South to upgrade within global value chains (GVCs) controlled by lead firms from, and oriented towards end-markets in the global North. However, the recent expansion of South-South trade has altered the geography of GVCs. Whilst studies highlight key differences between North-South value chains (NVCs) and South-South value chains (SVCs), less is known about the multichain strategies that suppliers employ as they simultaneously participate in NVCs and SVCs, and how these affect their prospects for economic upgrading. In this article we draw on the case of Kenyan horticultural first-tier suppliers to explore the implications that multichain strategies have for suppliers’ economic upgrading in terms of product quality, product diversification, and product sophistication. Using transaction-level customs data for the 2006-2018 period, we find that suppliers adopting multichain strategies experienced significantly more economic upgrading than suppliers operating only in NVCs or SVCs. However, there appear to be limits to the benefits of economic upgrading, depending on the type of multichain strategy employed. Our results are robust to the use of multilevel linear regressions (MLRs), propensity score matching (PSM), and system-GMM. The article highlights a critical need for GVC research to account for the multichain strategies of suppliers who increasingly serve multiple and overlapping value chains, and their implications for economic upgrading.
Paper short abstract:
Generating decent employment plays a key role in the creation of a new social contract and social cohesion. The crucial question is thus, how to create more decent jobs in Africa? We examine the role of patient (long-term) capital in creating decent jobs and diffusion of social standards.
Paper long abstract:
Generating decent employment plays a key role in the creation of a new social contract and social cohesion. The crucial question is thus, how to create more decent jobs in Africa? Much of the extant research has focused on the role of two types of actors in shaping employment relations in developing countries, namely the state and its adoption, implementation and enforcement of policies to create decent jobs, and the role of the businesses in employment relations. In this paper, we draw attention to a third type of actor that has been largely absent in the literature on the determinants of employment relations in developing countries, namely the role of financial institutions. Based on data from 38 interviews of Kenyan manufacturing firms, financiers, and labour representatives before and during the Covid 19 pandemic, we examine the relationship between the patience of capital and labour relations. In particular, the evidence presented in this paper suggests that access to more patient sources of capital may help to enhance the quantity and quality of jobs in African countries. We discuss three mechanisms through which this occurs including diffusion of social standards on decent work. Our paper contributes to a broader literature on patient capital which largely focuses on developed countries by extending it to the context of lower income African countries and speaks to broader debates about how to enhance the contribution of finance capital to social cohesion.