The global apparel value chain, trade and the crisis : challenges and opportunities for developing countries

This paper examines the impact of two crises on the global apparel value chain: the World Trade Organization phase-out of the quota system for textiles and apparel in 2005, which provided access for many poor and small export-oriented economies to the markets of industrialized countries, and the current economic recession that has lowered demand for apparel exports and led to massive unemployment across the industry’s supply chain. An overarching trend has been the process of global consolidation, whereby leading apparel suppliers (countries and firms alike) have strengthened their positions in the industry. On the country side, China has been the big winner, although Bangladesh, India, and Vietnam have also continued to expand their roles in the industry. On the firm side, the quota phase-out and economic recession have accelerated the ongoing shift to more streamlined global supply chains, in which lead firms desire to work with fewer, larger, and more capable suppliers that are strategically located around the world. The paper concludes with recommendations for how developing countries as well as textile and apparel suppliers can adjust to the crisis.Markets and Market Access,Economic Theory&Research,Free Trade,Labor Policies,Access to Markets

The offshore services value chain : developing countries and the crisis

This paper analyzes the recent evolution and impact of the global economic crisis on the offshore services industry. Using a global value chains framework, the authors classify the offshore services sector in a comprehensive set of general and industry-specific activities that correspond to different segments and stages in the value-adding process for services. Through an analysis of the impact of the economic crisis on the industry, a small decline in demand was found; however this did not cause any structural changes in the market. The crisis has created two opposing effects: general contraction of demand by existing customers due to the recession; and, at the same time, a substitution effect by which new services are being moved from developed countries to emerging economies in search of cost reduction. The paper concludes that the offshore services industry will continue to offer growth opportunities for developing countries not only among existing market players, but also a range of new countries. The industry has the potential to become an important source for employment and economic growth around the globe.ICT Policy and Strategies,E-Business,Water and Industry,Housing&Human Habitats,Public Sector Corruption&Anticorruption Measures

Education, Entrepreneurship and Immigration: America's New Immigrant Entrepreneurs, Part II

Analyzes the educational backgrounds and career trajectories of immigrant entrepreneurs, finding that advanced education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics is correlated with high rates of entrepreneurship and innovation

The Grass Is Indeed Greener in India and China for Returnee Entrepreneurs

Presents survey findings on why Indian and Chinese entrepreneurs left the United States to found companies back home, how they view their home countries' business climates and their advantages and disadvantages, and whether they maintain ties to the U.S

Recent innovations in Costa Rican development show the value of Global Value Chain analysis

By allowing an understanding of where, how, and by whom economic, social, and environmental value is created and distributed, Global Value Chain research can help to address key development and competitiveness issues, write Gary Gereffi and Karina Fernández-Stark (Duke University Global Value Chain Centre)

America's Loss Is the World's Gain: America's New Immigrant Entrepreneurs, Part IV

Analyzes survey data on highly educated Indian and Chinese workers and students who returned home from the United States -- their characteristics, motivations for coming to and leaving the U.S., professional success, and odds of returning to the U.S

Intellectual Property, the Immigration Backlog, and a Reverse Brain-Drain

Finds an increase in the contributions of foreign nationals to U.S. intellectual property and the nation's overall economic competitiveness, and seeks to explain this increase through an analysis of the immigrant-visa backlog for skilled workers

Recasting development theory in Latin America and East Asia

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Promessa e desafios do desenvolvimento

The global economy is changing rapidly, and China, India, and Mexico represent particularly interesting cases because of their divergent development models. Global consolidation is increasing in the past decade because of the rapid growth of China in manufacturing export industries, and India's surge in the offshoring of information technology services. The apparel industry also illustrates the consolidation trend because of a shift in international regulation with the phase out in 2005 of the quotas associated with the Multi-Fiber Arrangement. Industrial upgrading trajectories in China and Mexico are compared, using international trade data to look closely at export profiles in key industries and products destined for the U.S. market. China's "supply chain cities" are examined as a new form of economic organization that seeks to geographically integrate export production with other high-value segments of global value chains.A economia global tem mudado rapidamente. China, Índia e México representam casos particularmente interessantes por seus distintos modelos de desenvolvimento. O processo de consolidação global ampliou-se na década passada na esteira do rápido crescimento da China nos setores de manufatura para exportação e da entrada em cena da Índia na exportação de serviços no ramo da tecnologia de informação. A indústria do vestuário também ilustra tal tendência à consolidação, dadas as mudanças na regulação internacional com a gradual retração, a partir de 2005, do sistema de quotas estabelecido pelo Acordo Multifibras. As trajetórias de aprimoramento industrial manifestadas pela China e México são comparadas neste texto; com base em dados do comércio internacional, faz-se uma análise mais detida da composição das suas exportações destinadas ao mercado norte-americano no que respeita a ramos e produtos-chave. A experiência chinesa das chamadas "cidades-cadeias-de-suprimento" é também analisada; trata-se de uma nova forma de organização econômica, voltada a integrar geograficamente a produção para exportação e outros segmentos de alto valor agregado das cadeias globais de valor

Introduction: Globalisation, Value Chains and Development

Globalisation has become a catchword for the international economy at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The increasing importance of export-oriented industrialisation has made integration into the global economy virtually synonymous with development for a number of nations. However, there is an acute awareness that the gains from globalisation are very unevenly distributed within as well as between societies. A growing body of work analyses globalisation processes from the perspective of ‘value chains’; that is that international trade in goods and services should not be seen solely, or even mainly, as a multitude of arm’s-length market-based transactions but rather as systems of governance - involving multinational enterprises - that link firms together in a variety of sourcing and contracting arrangements. Understanding how these value chains operate is very important for developing country firms and policymakers because the way chains are structured has implications for newcomers trying to participate in the chain and to gain access to necessary skills, competences and supporting services. Most of the papers in this Bulletin build on the results of a workshop in Bellagio, Italy in September 2000, where all these issues were discussed