Economic and Social Upgrading in an Industrial Cluster in GVCs

Abstract

In this study, we carry out an exploratory, in-depth case study on the economic and social upgrading in the Xiantao nonwoven fabric industrial cluster in China. By grounding our research in the lenses of global value chain (GVC) analysis and industrial cluster from a multi- stakeholder perspective, we identify the roles played by various stakeholders in the cluster in facilitating both economic and social upgrading. GVC analysis and industrial cluster provide the angles of both horizontal and vertical perspectives: horizontally we identify the local institutional factors and governance mechanisms that influence various stakeholders in the industrial cluster, and vertically we focus on the roles played by global lead firms in the global value chains.