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Introduction: Bringing Institutions Back in the Study of Global Value Chains
Author(s) -
Eckhardt Jappe,
Poletti Arlo
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
global policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.602
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1758-5899
pISSN - 1758-5880
DOI - 10.1111/1758-5899.12613
Subject(s) - corporate governance , context (archaeology) , structuring , politics , perspective (graphical) , value (mathematics) , global governance , global value chain , political science , economic system , sociology , positive economics , economics , globalization , management , law , paleontology , artificial intelligence , machine learning , computer science , biology
This article introduces and summarizes the key questions and findings of this special issue of Global Policy on the role of domestic and international institutions in the study of global value chains ( GVC s). The article starts by briefly introducing the concept of GVC s and the state‐of‐the‐art of the existing literature focusing on the political implications of these landmark changes in the global economy. Then, we make a case for grounding this emerging literature more strongly into an ‘institutionalist’ perspective. More specifically, we argue that while a great deal of attention has been paid to intra‐chain governance modes – that is, the different ways in which firms organize their cross‐border production arrangements – the role external institutional forces play in structuring chain dynamics remains surprisingly under‐researched. These observations invite an analytical perspective that brings institutions back into the study of GVC s. The contributions to the special issue focus on multiple causal pathways linking GVC s and various types of domestic‐ and international institutions. Altogether, these contributions underscore that the politics engendered by GVC s, as well as how they evolve, can only be fully understood by paying attention to the external institutional context in which they are embedded.