Jan 30, 2024

“Sustainable global supply chains in times of geopolitical crises” Annual Report 2023

The overarching topic of this year's report is "The Role of Geopolitics in Global Supply Chains", highlighting ways in which recent geopolitical and geo-economic developments are shaping and influencing current debates and policy processes around global supply chains (GSCs). Following...

May 19, 2022

Cornelia Staritz, Bernhard Tröster, Jan Grumiller, Felix Maile

Price‑Setting Power in Global Value Chains: The Cases of Price Stabilisation in the Cocoa Sectors in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana

This paper calls for integrating price-setting power and related uneven exposure to price risks into the analysis of governance in global value chains (GVCs) as it adds to other power dimensions in producing unequal distributional outcomes. This is shown for the cocoa GVC, in which—unlike in toda...

Apr 5, 2022

Sustainable Global Supply Chains Report 2022

Global supply chains affect the economy, the environment and social welfare in many ways. Worldwide, economies are experiencing global supply shortages today, affecting key industries such as automotive and consumer electronics as well as vaccine and medical supplies industries. These preoccupy poli...

Feb 23, 2022

Kristoffer Marslev, Cornelia Staritz, and Gale Raj-Reichert

Rethinking social upgrading in global value chains around worker power

Feb 2, 2022

Kristoffer Marslev,Cornelia Staritz,and Gale Raj-Reichert

Rethinking Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains: Worker Power, State‒Labour Relations and Intersectionality

This article builds on critiques of the concept of social upgrading in global value chain (GVC) research, which problematize its coupling to lead firm strategies and economic upgrading by supplier firms, by reconceptualizing social upgrading through the lens of worker power. It argues that a better ...

Jan 25, 2022

GALE RAJ-REICHERT, CORNELIA STARITZ and LEONHARD PLANK

Conceptualizing the Regulator-Buyer State in the European Union for the Exercise of Socially Responsible Public Procurement in Global Production Networks

Labour rights violations and poor working conditions are rife in global production networks (GPNs). Until now research on labour governance in GPNs has been dominated by private measures. We ignite discussions on the role of the state in governing labour conditions in GPNs by focusing on a less well...

Jan 1, 2020

Lindsay Whitfield, Cornelia Staritz

Local supplier firms in Madagascar’s apparel export industry: Upgrading paths, transnational social relations and regional production networks

This article asks whether and how local firms in low-income countries can participate, upgrade and capture value in apparel global value chains in the context of increased entry barriers and asymmetric power relations. It focuses on Madagascar, which is the top apparel exporter in Sub-Saharan Africa...

Jan 1, 2020

Lindsay Whitfield, Cornelia Staritz, Mike Morris

Global Value Chains, Industrial Policy and Economic Upgrading in Ethiopia’s Apparel Sector

This article examines whether low‐income countries can still benefit from participating in manufacturing global value chains (GVCs) in terms of broader industrial development in a global context of greater competition and higher requirements. It contends that developing internationally competitive...

Jan 1, 2020

Lindsay Whitfield, Cornelia Staritz

The Learning Trap in Late Industrialisation: Local Firms and Capability Building in Ethiopia’s Apparel Export Industry

Local firms in new supplier countries face major challenges in entering manufacturing global value chains (GVCs) in the context of increased competition and requirements. To understand these challenges, we argue for the importance of looking more closely at local firm capability building, which is a...

Jan 1, 2020

Lindsay Whitfield, Cornelia Staritz, Ayelech T. Melese, Sameer Azizi

Technological Capabilities, Upgrading, and Value Capture in Global Value Chains: Local Apparel and Floriculture Firms in Sub-Saharan Africa

Many local firms in sub-Saharan African countries are failing to enter and upgrade in new manufacturing and agribusiness export sectors. This article argues that we need to look more closely at the costly, risky, and uncertain firm-level processes of building capabilities in order to understand this...

Jan 1, 2019

Bernhard Tröster, Rudiger Arnim, Cornelia Staritz, Werner Raza, Jan Grumiller, Hannes Grohs

Delivering on Promises? The Expected Impacts and Implementation Challenges of the Economic Partnership Agreements between the European Union and Africa

Economic partnership agreements (EPAs) mark a new era in economic relations between the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries that will lead to reciprocal tariff liberalization. Model‐based impact assessments have become a powerful tool in trade negotiations and mixed r...

Jan 1, 2019

Morris, M. and C. Staritz

Industrialization paths and industrial policy for developing countries in global value chains

Structural transformation to higher productivity and value-added activities remains a key objective for developing countries. Industrial policy has historically had an important role in supporting such transformation processes. Today, the external context is fundamentally different with the rise of ...

Jan 1, 2018

Cornelia Staritz, Susan Newman, Bernhard Tröster, Leonhard Plank

Financialization and Global Commodity Chains: Distributional Implications for Cotton in Sub-Saharan Africa

Restructuring of global and local markets has led to an increased influence of commodity derivatives markets on commodity price setting. This has critical implications for price risks experienced by actors along commodity chains. Commodity derivatives markets have undergone significant changes that ...