Does Economic Upgrading Generate Social Upgrading? Insights from the Horticulture, Apparel, Mobile Phones and Tourism Sectors

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Bernhardt ◽  
William Milberg
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Economic Upgrading ◽  
Social Upgrading

Challenges of achieving social upgrading in Bangladesh’s apparel industry

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Tarikul Islam ◽  
Christina Stringer
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Apparel Industry ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lower Tier ◽  
Economic Upgrading ◽  
System Operating ◽  
Social Upgrading

Purpose Despite substantial economic upgrading, Bangladesh’s apparel industry remains confronted by claims of precarious working conditions. This paper aims to understand the challenges of achieving social upgrading and whether benefits of economic upgrading can transfer to workers and their dependents through social upgrading. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 90 participants from six apparel firms in Bangladesh. The interviews were conducted following the Rana Plaza disaster. Findings The results suggest that social upgrading has not occurred to the same extent as economic upgrading. Social upgrading has been compromised in part, by the tiered factory system operating and a lack of governance within the lower tier firms. Research limitations/implications Single country and one industry constitute the main limitations of this research. Future research could include multiple countries and industries to allow for greater generalization of findings. Originality/value The paper provides new insights on how social upgrading might be compromised within the global value chains context and its impact on developing country supplier firms, workers and their families.

Economic and Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains: Insights from Philippine Manufacturing Firms

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian R. Mendoza
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Labor Cost ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Probit Regression ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Labor Conditions ◽  
Skill Intensity ◽  
Economic Upgrading ◽  
Social Upgrading

This study explores results of the 2012 Survey on Adjustments of Establishments to Globalization (SAEG) to analyze the economic and social upgrading experience of Philippine manufacturers within global value chains (GVCs). Three broad patterns emerge from the data. First, firms with stronger GVC linkages tend to have better labor indicators than purely domestic producers. Second, the majority of manufacturers either experienced or missed economic and social upgrading simultaneously. Lastly, almost all social upgrading is accompanied by economic upgrading but economic upgrading may take place without a social component. Against this background, this study uses bivariate probit regression to model the joint determination of the two separate but interconnected upgrading outcomes. The results indicate that the covariates in the model can be categorized based on their statistical significance: purely economic (i.e., employment size, unit labor cost, high skill intensity, and the Kaitz dummy), purely social (i.e., training, female intensity, and foreign equity), and both (i.e., contractualization, and process and product innovations). These results have several important implications. First, GVC firms’ notion of social upgrading is closer to the softer components of working conditions than to traditional measurable indicators such as employment, wages, and efficiency. Second, the results suggest direct and indirect channels through which technological upgrading may generate desirable social outcomes: the direct channel highlights that innovation should be accompanied by skills development to sustain higher value creation while the indirect channel underlines the potential of innovation to create upward spirals in output, productivity, and, ultimately, labor conditions. Lastly, there are some indications that the social benefits of economic upgrading may not be evenly distributed among different types of employment. Overall, the results emphasize the need for a holistic upgrading experience that shifts the country’s comparative advantage from cheap labor to innovative local industries and highly skilled workers.

scholarly journals A Research Background of Global Value Chains

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sourish Dutta
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Preliminary Analysis ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Economic Prosperity ◽  
Relevant Research ◽  
Research Issues ◽  
Or Economics ◽  
Economic Upgrading ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Social Upgrading

Purpose of this background note is to present some relevant research issues about India’s GVC, such as degree of India’s GVC linkages, by sector, by industry (preliminary analysis by GVC measures as well as in-depth econometric analysis), consequences of GVCs for economic prosperity i.e. industrial or economic upgrading (including trade-oriented upgrading and adaptation), the impact of GVCs on social upgrading, such as reflection on labour market dynamics (because social upgrading is not immediately associated with industrial or economics upgrading).

Smallholders and Farmworkers in Agricultural Value Chains: No Upgrading Without Collective Action and State Support

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Ismail Doga Karatepe ◽  
Christoph Scherrer
Keyword(s):  
Field Studies ◽  
Theoretical Explanation ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Labor Laws ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Economic Upgrading ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Social Upgrading

Abstract This article presents findings from field studies of smallholders and farmworkers producing coffee, mangoes, and rice in several countries in the global South. It is one of the few comparative studies of the constraints and opportunities for social upgrading in global agricultural value chains (gvcs). We argue that the ease with which new suppliers can be found gives highly concentrated global wholesalers and retailers enormous leverage over smallholders. As a result, opportunities for social upgrading tend to be limited. Even in successful cases, it is accompanied by fewer employment opportunities. Cooperatives, which enjoy government support and enforced labor laws, are an exception. The article begins with a discussion of problems in measuring the impact of gvc participation and a theoretical explanation of why economic upgrading is not sufficient to ensure social upgrading. Special attention is given to the role of the state in promoting social upgrading.

Social Upgrading as Market Fantasy: The Limits of Global Value Chain Integration

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin Fridell ◽  
Chris Walker
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Global Value Chain ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ideological Fantasy ◽  
Economic Upgrading ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Social Upgrading

Confronted with mixed evidence linking economic upgrading in global value chains to improved social outcomes, proponents have called for a new emphasis on “social upgrading” to promote better employment, gender equality, and poverty reduction. Originally focused on a central role for states, unions, and social movements, the discourse on social upgrading has shifted, emphasizing the benefits of corporate social responsibility and global markets. Drawing on political economic, critical theory, and psychoanalytic paradigms, we explore the politics of this shift and argue that social upgrading is gradually being deployed as a neoliberal market fantasy, designed not to challenge the limits of market integration, but to obscure and deny them. The strength of the social upgrading discourse emerges less from its pretense toward objective, data-driven analysis, than its effectiveness as an ideological fantasy in meeting the contradictory, non-rational desires of experts and non-experts.

scholarly journals Global value chains, rising power firms and economic and social upgrading

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 319-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joonkoo Lee ◽  
Gary Gereffi
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Alternative Markets ◽  
Economic Upgrading ◽  
Rising Power ◽  
Social Upgrading

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the global value chain (GVC) approach to understand the relationship between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and the changing patterns of global trade, investment and production, and its impact on economic and social upgrading. It aims to illuminate how GVCs can advance our understanding about MNEs and rising power (RP) firms and their impact on economic and social upgrading in fragmented and dispersed global production systems. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the GVC literature focusing on two conceptual elements of the GVC approach, governance and upgrading, and highlights three key recent developments in GVCs: concentration, regionalization and synergistic governance. Findings – The paper underscores the complicated role of GVCs in shaping economic and social upgrading for emerging economies, RP firms and developing country firms in general. Rising geographic and organizational concentration in GVCs leads to the uneven distribution of upgrading opportunities in favor of RP firms, and yet economic upgrading may be elusive even for the most established suppliers because of power asymmetry with global buyers. Shifting end markets and the regionalization of value chains can benefit RP firms by presenting alternative markets for upgrading. Yet, without further upgrading, such benefits may be achieved at the expense of social downgrading. Finally, the ineffectiveness of private standards to achieve social upgrading has led to calls for synergistic governance through the cooperation of private, public and social actors, both global and local. Originality/value – The paper illuminates how the GVC approach and its key concepts can contribute to the critical international business and RP firms literature by examining the latest dynamics in GVCs and their impacts on economic and social development in developing countries.

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