Impact of Free Trade Zones on Chinaʼs ICT Products Trade: A PSM‐DID Analysis

Agriculture, food and global value chains: issues, methods and challenges

Topicality. In Ukraine, there are opportunities for integration into global value chains, primarily in the agri-food markets. Concentration of these strategic resources in the structural units of agri-food enterprises in all segments of the global market with the formation of dynamic competitive advantages of national economies of their countries. This process is facilitated by the availability of developed transport infrastructure, especially sea and river ports, attracting investment, including foreign in increasing crop production, productive land, increased role of the state in regulating strategic agri-food markets. At the same time, this powerful potential is not used effectively. Significant losses are due in particular to the creation of logistics of export flows, which in many cases make domestic food products uncompetitive in foreign markets, due to inflated costs of supply to final consumers. Such inflated costs indicate the lack of coordinated interaction of export-oriented chains and organizational and economic mechanisms, their regulation. Aim and tasks. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the scientific provisions and organizational and economic forms of logistics support for the integration of agri-food markets into global value chains. Research results. The current methodological approaches to the analysis of global value chains are analyzed, it is established that the main analytical indicator for agri-food markets and their individual sectors is a two-component "index of participation in global value chains". Low rates of participation of commodity markets in global chains are characteristic of developing countries and exporting countries of commodities with low levels of domestic value added, as evidenced by the sectoral analysis of agricultural markets. Analysis of problems with the efficiency of global agri-food value chains and specific market participants, practice shows that the producer achieves the greatest economic effect when it sells not raw materials, but products of processing, with increased value. In particular, the urgency of this issue is exacerbated by the need to use logistical reserves in the process of servicing export flows. Recent data suggest that as countries participate in global value chains, commodity growth rates increase. Value chains play an important role as a source of job creation. Thus, trade and supply in food hubs within the logistics chains of food markets stimulates the development of logistics as a critical component of global chains, as the most important problem is to supply products in the right quantity, quality, on time. The study also focuses on general market factors that affect the efficiency of specific value chains in the external dimension. Conclusion. The study proposes a conceptual approach to integrating agri-food markets into global value chains by creating agri-food hubs. The peculiarity of this concept is the formation of networks of specialized hubs that should serve the commodity flows of related markets. The basis of agri-food hubs should be formed by logistics functions related to marketing activities, tools for end-to-end planning of commodity supplies, and their institutional support. This will ensure efficient logistics routes of goods supply, strengthen cooperation between the links of the chains, fully take into account the specifics of the requirements of foreign consumer markets. Prospects for further research on this issue include bringing the rules of tax and customs legislation in line with international standards, ensuring insurance of export contracts and more.

How the adoption of industry 4.0 technologies is related to participation in global and domestic value chains: Evidence from Russia

The review is devoted to the assessment of the monograph by N.A. Volgina and Liu Pengfei “China in Global Value Chains”. Based on the input-output methodological approach and the principle of decomposition of gross exports, the authors come to a number of relevant conclusions that depict the dynamics of China’s participation in global value chains. Thus, the last decades have been characterized by uneven growth of Chinese domestic and foreign value added: domestic value added has grown at a faster rate than foreign value added, and its share in gross exports has gradually increased. At the same time, there has been a drop in China’s “participation index” in global value chains, and this decrease was developing at the expense of a decrease in upward participation. The “position Index” was characterized by a different trend: its slow growth from negative to positive values was observed, which reflected the fact that China’s income from value-added trade was increasing. The authors’ calculations show that there are differences in the dynamics of “indices of participation” of individual industries in value chains: the share of labourintensive industries is decreasing and the share of capital-intensive industries, primarily engineering, is increasing. For the first time in Russian economic literature, this monograph critically assesses the contribution of Chinese economists to the study of the formation of global and regional value chains in China. In the final part of the monograph, the authors point out the contradictory effects of China’s participation in global value chains, which include both the benefits and risks of such integration.

Geographical Indications in Latin America Value Chains: A “branding from below” strategy or a mechanism excluding the poorest?

Global value chains, technological progress, and environmental pollution: Inequality towards developing countries

No AccessFeb 2020Micro Foundations (2): Upgrading Agricultural Value ChainsAuthors/Editors: José R. López-CálixJosé R. López-CálixSearch for more papers by this authorhttps://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1490-7_ch5AboutView ChaptersFull TextPDF (0.9 MB) ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In Abstract: Determines possible upgrading trajectories for Mali, Chad, Niger, and to a lesser extent, Guinea so as to increase their participation in global (and regional) value chains and improve their growth and economic diversification prospects. Priority industries were identified as bovine (Niger); cashew (Mali); gum arabic (Chad); onion (Niger); and sesame seed (Chad and Mali). Global demand drives exports from Chad, Mali, and Niger through a network of traders that use mostly informal channels to supply intermediaries of international firms and regional buyers. Four global value chain (GVC) groups consist of several GVC subtypes and are characterized as agricultural sellers; commodity sellers; other sellers; and buyers; with an understanding of the structural transformation of different economies, the taxonomy allows for identifying past and future upgrading trajectories, informing country and sector diagnostics, and identifying suitable policies for different country contexts. Understanding GVC trends in gum arabic, oilseed, nuts, livestock, and horticulture will help target lead firms, governance structure, and market dynamics. REFERENCESAhmed,, G 2018. “Upgrading Agricultural Value Chains in Mali, Niger, and Chad.” Unpublished background paper, World Bank, Washington, DC. Google ScholarAhmed,, G and B Fandohan. 2017. “GVC in Niger: Bovine and Onions.” Unpublished background paper, Niger: Leveraging Export Diversification to Foster Growth, World Bank, Washington, DC. 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MotivationThe COVID‐19 pandemic has massively disrupted international trade and global value chains. Impacts, however, differ across regions and industries. This article contributes to a better understanding of the scale of disruptions to industries and value chains integral to the economies of and livelihoods in developing countries, and what role policy can play to mitigate harm.PurposeThis article aims to: (1) analyse and characterize disruptions to the global apparel value chain caused by the COVID‐19 pandemic, focusing on how developing countries have been impacted, and; (2) identify key policies to support a resilient, inclusive and sustainable recovery.Approach and methodsWe review COVID‐19 related reports published by international and non‐governmental organizations, international trade and production statistics, industry surveys and media reports. We frame our analysis predominantly within the Global Value Chains literature.FindingsThe global apparel value chain has been severely disrupted by the pandemic, owing to direct effects of sickness on workers in factories, reduced output of materials—cloth, thread, etc.—used to fabricate clothing, and to reduced demand for apparel in high‐income countries. Developing countries are suffering disproportionately in terms of profits, wages, job security and job safety. Women workers in the apparel chain have been hit especially hard, not only because most workers in the chain are women, but also because they have experienced increasing unpaid care work and higher risk of gender‐based violence.Policy implicationsFive key areas of policy to support a resilient, inclusive and sustainable recovery stand out: (1) delivering emergency responses to ensure firm survival and the protection of workers’ livelihoods; (2) reformulating FDI attraction strategies and promoting market diversification; (3) supporting technology adoption and skills development; (4) deploying labour standards to improve workers’ conditions and strengthening social protection systems; and (5) adopting gender‐sensitive responses.

Global value chains (GVCs) provide countries with opportunities to diversify trade, and boost productivity and growth by specializing in one stage of the production process. However, for the most part, Latin America and the Caribbean participation in GVCs remains low (18 percent) compared to Asia (28 percent) and Europe (34 percent). The COVID-19 pandemic, plus concerns regarding protectionism and the more frequent occurrence of natural disasters, have provided incentives for countries and companies to reassess their positions in global value chains. This crisis has taken a huge toll on trade, but it could also be an opportunity to boost regional integration and value chains within the region. Despite the crisis, some firms have performed well, even in those sectors where global demand has fallen, while others have lost market share. This paper analyzes the performance of individual firms, drawing on the study of rich micro data, to understand their different capacity of trade creation and destruction over the crisis. Results suggest five firm characteristics play a key role in explaining export performance during the pandemic: i) firm size, ii) diversification of export markets, iii) importer status of the firm, iv) distance from foreign suppliers, and v) performance of the firms suppliers and customers. The results are then used to outline policies fostering firms participation in global value chains.

The rapid expansion of agrifood exports from low‐ and middle‐income countries and the contribution of global value chains to rural development are well‐documented in the literature. Also, studies on modernization of domestic food value chains in these countries are emerging. Yet, the linkages between global and local value chains are rarely studied. On the one hand, the development and expansion of global value chains may create competition with local value chains for land, labor, water, soil nutrients, and other resources. On the other hand, positive spillover effects, such as investment, technical or institutional spillovers, may occur and spur the development of local value chains. In this article, we put forward a conceptual discussion on the type of linkages between global and local value chains, and how these depend on crop and value chain characteristics. We review the empirical evidence on these linkages. Our focus is on Africa, where agrifood exports and global value chains evolved rapidly and where challenges remain to upgrade and increase efficiency in local food value chains.

· Purpose This research aims to identify the current status of Egypt's participation in the global value chain (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) while highlighting the main requirements and obstacles that face such participation. · Methodology The paper investigates the current status of Egypt's participation in the global value chain, adopted the qualitative approach through conducting semi-structured interviews with all relevant parties from the governmental and private sectors in addition to experts in the field. Also, a focus group was conducted with relevant parties to analyze the current status of Egypt's participation in the global value chain and to identify the obstacles it faces. These qualitative data were analyzed using narrative data analysis methods · Findings From the semi-structured interviews and the focus group, it was concluded that Egypt has many weaknesses and challenges that limit its participation in the global value chain. Accordingly, all sectors must work on linking the domestic value chain with regional and global value chains. · Research limitations This research only used structured interviews and focus groups as research instruments. Nevertheless, more research methods, such as surveys with significant stakeholders, could be used in future research to increase its value and relevance. · Practical implications The paper provides a road map proposal to increase Egypt's participation in the global value chain, with a review of the role of different sectors to link the domestic value chain with regional and global value chains. · Originality/value This paper proposed a road map to enhance the participation of Egypt in global value chains. Also, the paper advanced detailed action plans for different involved sectors, such as trade and investment, export and logistics, the international and multimodal transport sector, and the scientific research sector.

The article investigates international trade activity of Ukraine for the period 2018-2020. Ukrainian companies tend to be providing integration into global value chains. The research confirms positive dynamics in foreign trade of Ukraine for the period 2018-2020. The Ukrainian enterprises mainly exports low value-added goods and imports high value-added goods. Development of Ukraine's economy requires successful integration into global production and distribution networks with a reduction in the processing of raw materials with insignificant added value. The research confirms positive dynamics in foreign trade of Ukraine for the period 2018-2020. The research methods used in the study are as follows: analysis and study of literature, scientific description, Internet research, statistical and structural survey, data sheet presentation. The research proved that the economic relations between Ukraine and trade partners demonstrate significant increase of the foreign trade within the global value chains (GVC). Ukrainian companies tend to be providing integration into global value chains. Agricultural and industrial products exported from Ukraine accounted for 42.1% of the total international sales in 2020. Recommendations for Ukraine's integration into global and regional business services can include developing services in context of GVC, developing international cooperation between enterprises on global business platforms. The basis for successful integration into GVC must be the development of innovative ecosystems of industrial high technologies. It is important to develop innovative industrial high-tech ecosystems for successful integration into GVC. Ukrainian exports are dominated by metallurgical and agricultural products. Its feature is the high proportion of intermediate goods used as a source material for the production of other final consumer goods. The author tries to formulate modern directions of development for further integration of the Ukrainian economy into global and regional value chains. Recommendations for Ukraine's integration into global and regional business services can include developing services, developing international cooperation between enterprises on global business platforms.

Over the past decades, there has been a megatrend regarding the international diffusion of value chain activities, such as sourcing, design, production, distribution and marketing. This leads to a notion of global value chains (GVCs), in which all the value chain activities are distributed globally. GVCs have altered the nature of specialisation and production in many sectors regarding the selection of best practices and producers; reduction of costs; availability of raw materials; and improvement in quality, of both input and output, across the global chain. Although such huge benefits and opportunities can be achieved, the associated risks are also increased due to the complexity and involvement of too many entities in the GVC network. This, especially, matters in food and agricultural value chains, which are facing a number of challenges, such as high trade barriers, strict government regulations, changing climate conditions, and fluctuations in supply and demand, as well as high risks associated with food security and safety. Underpinning this megatrend and its associated risks, managing global food value chain risks using advanced technologies is becoming important for GVC transformation. Considered as one of the most disruptive technologies of recent times, the impact of blockchain ought to be crucial to managing risks in the global food value chain. In order to make full use of blockchain, the technology is usually integrated with other innovative and emerging technologies, such as the internet of things (IoT) and big data analytics. This combination is driving a revolution in which firms are strengthening their GVCs through mitigating risks, consequently creating the safety and complete integrity of the value chains. This study is, therefore, among the few to identify the potential risks associated with GVCs and explore the significant roles of blockchain and its allied technologies in mitigating the identified global food value chain risks.

Topicality. Modern trends in the formation of institutional support for logistics chains of commodity markets, led to the urgent need to consider them on the example of the food market. The integration of domestic agricultural enterprises into value chains is fundamentally important for the development of Ukraine's agricultural industry. Participation in such logistics chains provides a synergistic effect that allows participants, stakeholders to join forces to achieve their goals and objectives and generally improves competitiveness in food markets, including foreign ones. Possibility of control of a logistic chain of creation of the added value and rich positive experience of development of integration allows to activate available commodity potential objects and objects. Economic policy and the interest of stakeholders in logistics product chains, which is why it is formed and implemented through the prism of institutional support in the external dimension.Аim and tasks. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the theoretical and methodological provisions and to develop practical recommendations for the formation of logistics chains to add value to the provision of foreign commodity markets in their markets.Research results. Analysis of the problems of efficiency of global agri-food value chains and a specific market participant, allows you to study agricultural enterprises in this chain and the links between them to see how and when they can be strengthened to achieve production and marketing efficiency; or to facilitate a more efficient vertical and horizontal flow of information, production factors and resources. Such an analysis may reveal efficiency constraints related to a specific feature of global agri-food value chains in commodity markets. Both developed and developing countries must be able to take advantage of global food value chains. Recent data show that as countries participate in global value chains of commodity markets, the growth rate of their gross domestic product increases. Value chains play an important role as a source of job creation. Thus, trade and supply in food hubs within the logistics chains of food markets stimulates the development of logistics as a critical component of global chains, as it is extremely important to supply products in the right quantity, the right quality, on time. The study also focuses on general market factors that affect the efficiency of specific value chains in the external dimension: legislative, regulatory and political environment; availability and quality of support services such as funding, training and information technology.Conclusions. Thus, the formation of efficient logistics chains allows to strengthen ties, cooperation between agricultural enterprises and multinational corporations through a transparent regulatory and investment environment in Ukraine. The ability of agri-food entities to withstand the effects of negative institutional factors, crises, adaptively and promptly make adjustments and respond to changes in the market environment in the agri-food market. The concept of integrating the mechanisms of domestic agri-food markets into global value chains makes sense, as it can bridge the gap between government policy and the realities of the food business.

Recent decades have witnessed an increasing integration of developing countries into global value chains (GVCs). This growing participation in global production sharing has raised hopes for economic upgrading within such value chains. However, globalization has intensified international competition, and achieving economic upgrading is not an easy task. Moreover, the social consequences of participating in GVCs are not always positive; however, they have received considerably less attention in the literature. This paper suggests a simple and parsimonious approach to measuring economic and social upgrading (and downgrading) in GVCs. Applying this parsimonious methodology and using quantitative secondary data, we analyze how widespread upgrading has been in four selected manufacturing GVCs: apparel, wood furniture, automotive, and mobile phones. We also investigate to what extent downgrading is part of the reality and undertake a comparative analysis across GVCs, regions and country groups (developing vs. developed countries). We find that the promise of industrial upgrading through participation in GVCs does not materialize for everyone. Indeed, economic upgrading has taken place in just over a quarter of the countries in our sample, among them mainly developing countries. Finally, we examine the relationship between economic performance and social performance in the different GVCs to investigate whether or not economic upgrading is typically associated with social upgrading. While patterns differ across GVCs, we find that economic upgrading is more likely to occur simultaneously with social upgrading than without, and vice versa. Our analysis, thus, suggests that economic upgrading is conducive to, but not sufficient for, social upgrading to occur.