Reports
Seminar
IDE-JETRO hosted IDE-GVC Workshop on "The Future of Global Value Chain Research"

IDE-JETRO has accumulated research on firms, business and industries in developing and emerging economies over decades by applying empirical analysis in particular as our mainstream of research method. We have developed our research on global value chains (GVCs) in the recent decade.
Over the past decade, new dynamics have unfolded – including the increasing consolidation and concentration of GVCs alongside the integration of new economies, the rapid growth of end-product markets in the South, and the emergence of large and highly competent suppliers and lead firms from emerging economies, most notably in East Asia. To make sense of the ongoing dynamics and complexity of GVCs, theory development has progressed. Many of such attempts have built on the theory of GVC governance developed by Gereffi, Humphrey and Sturgeon (2005), refining the key concepts of governance, power, and upgrading and elaborating the relationships between them.
The aim of this workshop was to bring together insights that have come out of some of the important works done recently, discuss their implications for the GVC approach, and identify potential directions for future research. IDE-JETRO successfully hosted the workshop by accommodating eminent scholars both from overseas and in Japan. All contributors to the workshop would hope carrying the stimulated discussion on to the further research development.
(Noburu Yoshida, Research Planning Department)






Date:
June 27, 2018 (Wednesday) 10:00-14:00
Venue:
Institute of Developing Economies
Programme:
Opening
Remarks
by
Mai
Fujita, IDE-JETRO
Session
1:
Have
recent
developments
in
East
Asia
changed
our
global
value
chain
(GVC)
thinking?
East
Asia
used
to
be
the
example
of
classic
global
outsourcing:
one
that
is
based
around
developed
country
lead
firms
transferring
low-value
activities
and
shaping
the
upgrading
opportunities
for
local
producers.
Some
of
the
dynamics
that
unfolded
over
the
past
decade
do
not
seem
to
fall
within
this
characterisation.
Highly
competent
suppliers
from
Taiwan
are
increasingly
leading
innovations
and/or
giving
rise
to
new
governance
structures.
China
has
been
a
mixed
story
of
state-led
drive
to
nurture
national
champions
and
vibrant
private
enterprises
serving
the
large
middle-
and
low-end
domestic
market.
Do
these
developments
challenge
our
conventional
GVC
thinking?
Chair:
- Mai Fujita (IDE-JETRO)
Speakers:
- Douglas Fuller (Zhejiang University)
- Michelle Hsieh (Academia Sinica)
- Ding Ke (IDE-JETRO)
Session
2:
Power,
governance
and
upgrading
in
GVCs
Gereffi
et
al.
(2005)
identified
five
governance
types,
but
most
of
the
subsequent
GVC
literature
has
focused
on
just
one-captive
governance
and
how
powerful
lead
firms
control
suppliers
performing
low-value
activities
in
developing
countries.
Session
1
on
East
Asia
challenges
this
perspective.
How
much
does
responding
to
these
challenges
require
new
conceptualisations
of
power
in
value
chains,
new
approaches
to
innovation
and
upgrading,
and
new
ways
of
thinking
about
the
interactions
between
value
chains
and
their
environments?
Conversely,
how
much
can
be
learnt
from
considering
neglected
areas
of
existing
theory?
Chair:
- John Humphrey (University of Sussex)
Speakers:
- Mark Dallas (Union College)
- Susan Helper (Case Western Reserve University)
List of contributors (alphabetical order)
Mark Dallas |
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Union College |
Douglas B. Fuller |
Professor, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategy, School of Management, Zhejiang University |
Susan Helper |
Frank Tracy Carlton Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University |
Michelle Hsieh |
Assciate researcher, Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica |
John Humphrey |
Honorary Professor, School of Business, Management and Economics, University of Sussex |
Michiko Iizuka |
Professor, National Graduate School for Policy Studies (GRIPS) |
Patarapong Intarakumnerd |
Professor, National Graduate School for Policy Studies (GRIPS) |
Joonkoo Lee |
Professor, School of Business, Hanyang University |
Dennis L. McNamara |
Special Assistant to the President, China Affairs, Georgetown University |
Yumiko Okamoto |
Professor, Faculty of Policy Studies, Doshisha University |
Stefano Ponte |
Professor of International Political Economy, Department of Business and Politics, Copenhagen Business School (CBS) |
Mari Sako |
Professor, Said Business School, University of Oxford |
IDE-JETRO
Naoko Eto |
Research Fellow, East Asia Studies Group, Area Studies Centre |
Director, Director Southeast Asia Studies II Group, Area Studies Centre |
|
Research Fellow, Global Value Chains Studies Group, Inter-disciplinary Studies Centre |
|
Deputy Director-General, Area Studies Centre |
|
Research Fellow, East Asia Studies Group, Area Studies Centre |
|
Research Fellow, Business and Industry Studies Group, Development Studies Centre |
|
Tomohiro Machikita |
Research Fellow, Economic Integration Studies Group, Development Studies Centre |
Research Fellow, Environment and Natural Resource Studies Group, Inter-disciplinary Studies Centre |
|
Yuri Sato |
Executive Vice President |
Director, Latin America Studies Group, Area Studies Centre |
|
Kenmei Tsubota |
Research Fellow, Economic Geography Studies Group, Development Studies Centre |
Deputy Director, Law and Institution Studies Group, Inter-disciplinary Studies Centre |
|
Noburu Yoshida |
Deputy Director, Planning and Coordination Division, Research Planning Department |