Applying the GVC framework to policy: The ILO experience

Abstract

Understanding global value chains (GVC), their power dynamics, and their opportunities and challenges for developing countries is a key policy priority for development. The analytical framework developed by Gary Gereffi has increasingly been embedded in policy-making at the multilateral level. This article homes in on the relevance of the GVC framework for policies and interventions of the International Labour Organization, the United Nations’ agency for labour rights and decent work. By reviewing the introduction of the GVC framework at the ILO in the past quarter of a century, I highlight how it has supported the ILO in understanding labour governance dynamics in the wake of globalisation, and in particular the rise of private compliance initiatives led by GVC lead firms. I also show how the ILO is using the GVC framework to map the most vulnerable segments of the production chain from a workers’ right perspective, and to develop targeted interventions to achieve decent work in GVCs.