The Global Forum website tries to keep track of the ever changing landscape of trade analysis, measurement of trade and trade statistics. The site keeps a database of links to over 150 relevant publications, reports, articles and speeches.
It is increasingly rare that a good or a service is entirely produced at one location and then exported to a final consumer. Rather, production of a good or even service involves an increasingly complex process with intermediate inputs and supporting activities sourced globally from wherever it is most efficient to do so. These complex international production arrangements have come to be known as global value chains (GVCs)...
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A great burst of globalization brought the 20th century to a close, creating upheaval in the world economy from roughly 1995 to 2008. And now, with the new century barely commenced, a second upheaval is in the offing following the severe financial crisis that plunged the global economy into recession in 2008-09. The first upheaval witnessed a massive migration of manufacturing and certain business services that transformed Asia into the industrial heartland of the world. The second upheaval will likely consolidate Asia's industrial preeminence and could result in a concentration of industrial activities in the two most populous and fastest growing Asian economies - China and India...
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This paper provides evidence of the links between Global Value Chains (GVCs) and labour market outcomes, focusing on developing economies. The literature generally indicates that firms with international linkages—which we use here as a proxy for GVC involvement—tend to employ more workers, pay higher wages, and employ more skilled workers than firms that deal exclusively with the domestic market. Our results are consistent with existing evidence found in developed economies, with internationalised firms tending to hire more workers and pay higher wages in developing economies as well...
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This paper examines the implications of global production sharing for economic integration in East Asia, with emphasis on the behavior of trade flows in the wake of the 2008 global economic crisis. While trade in parts and components and final assembly within production networks (?network trade?) has generally grown faster than total world trade in manufacturing, the degree of dependence of East Asia on this new form of international specialization is proportionately larger than elsewhere in the world...
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In this article, we apply global value chain (GVC) analysis to recent trends in the global automotive industry, with special attention paid to the case of North America. We use the three main elements of the GVC framework—firm-level chain governance, power and institutions—to highlight some of the defining characteristics of this important industry. First, national political institutions create pressure for local content, which drives production close to end markets…
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