scholarly journals Natural resource industries as global value chains: Frontiers, fetishism, labour and the state

2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (11) ◽  
pp. 2437-2456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Baglioni ◽  
Liam Campling
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Labour Process ◽  
Capitalist State ◽  
Historical Capitalism ◽  
Circuit Of Capital

Despite 30 years of research on global value chains, the appropriation of nature in general and natural resource industries in particular remain marginal both theoretically and empirically. There is a parallel ecological deficit in labour process theory and a lack of applied research on natural resource industries. But since historical capitalism is based on the expanding appropriation and transformation of nature by labour, these lacunae must be redressed. Contributing to an emerging body of work in environmental economic geography and the international political economy of the environment, this article theorises global value chains through the lens of the circuit of capital as a tool to unravel some distinctive features of natural resources industries. We propose a framework for the study of natural resource industries as global value chains based on five propositions: (a) commodity frontier theory, (b) the fetishism of natural resources, (c) the socio-ecological indeterminacy of the labour process, (d) distance and durability in the production of time and (e) the contingency of the capitalist state in (re)producing global value chains. While far from exhaustive, we argue that this original synthetic framework provides crucial bases for a research agenda on global value chains in natural resources.

Disappearing natural resources: what flowers tell us about new value chains

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Carton ◽  
Julia Parigot
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Resource Depletion ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Cut Flower ◽  
Resource Exploitation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Natural Resource Exploitation ◽  
Natural Resource Depletion

Purpose This paper aims to question the capacity of firms embedded in global value chains to manage their natural resources in a sustainable way. Thus, it offers guidelines for more sustainable value chains. Design/methodology/approach While business strategies have focused on optimizing natural resource exploitation and on constructing global value chains to face sustainability issues, this study first explains why these strategies are not effective in preventing natural resource depletion. Second, it offers a model for anticipating resource depletion. The cut flower industry constitutes a central case to explain the model. Two other industry cases complement the demonstration. Findings To anticipate natural resource depletion and thus improve industry sustainability, firms must shift from the exploitation of endangered natural resources to the use of alternative local ones. This shift, however, encourages firms to reconstruct value chains and rethink how they create value within these new value chains. It also has an impact on firms’ growth strategy: they must replicate value chains on a local scale instead of taking part in global value chains. Research limitations/implications The findings rely on illustrations from the cut flower, fishing and textile fiber industries. Generalization to other industries may strengthen the argument. Originality/value This study offers a model of sustainable growth for firms willing to anticipate natural resource depletion by offering a shift in value chains. It consists of exploiting alternative natural resources and of rethinking the value offered to consumers. Thus, it goes against current models that merely focus on optimizing natural resource exploitation within global value chains.

scholarly journals Natural resources and global value chains: What role for the WTO?

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Smith
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Positive Contribution ◽  
Potential Harm ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Natural Resource Use

AbstractNatural resources are critical to global value chains as minerals, good climate and fertile soil are commonly required for the beginning of the chain, with the consequence that any interruption in their supply threatens the chain's continued integrity. Trade in such resources provides a valuable source of income for resource-rich states. Yet exploitation of natural resources can result in their exhaustion and biodiversity loss, while their extraction can lead to environmental damage and human rights abuses, with the result that any positive contribution to sustainable development for resource-rich states is quickly undermined. Effective regulation is critical to maximise benefits and minimise potential harm. The WTO's rules seem ideally suited to allow the state to impose measures that militate against the overexploitation of the resource by corporations, whilst simultaneously ensuring that that regulation does not unnecessarily impede the flow of resources within the value chain. However, this paper will show that applying the WTO's rules to natural resource use in global value chains presents both substantive and normative challenges.

scholarly journals Regional economic integration via detection of circular flow in international value-added network

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0255698
Author(s):  
Sotaro Sada ◽  
Yuichi Ikeda
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Pacific Rim ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
High Tech ◽  
European Economic ◽  
Circular Flow ◽  
The Pacific

Global value chains are formed through value-added trade, and some regions promote economic integration by concluding regional trade agreements to promote these chains. However, it has not been established to quantitatively assess the scope and extent of economic integration involving various sectors in multiple countries. In this study, we used the World Input–Output Database to create a cross-border sector-wise network of trade in value-added (international value-added network) covering the period of 2000–2014 and evaluated them using network science methods. By applying Infomap to the international value-added network, we confirmed two regional communities: Europe and the Pacific Rim. We applied Helmholtz–Hodge decomposition to the value-added flows within the region into potential and circular flows, and clarified the annual evolution of the potential and circular relationships between countries and sectors. The circular flow component of the decomposition was used to define an economic integration index. Findings confirmed that the degree of economic integration in Europe declined sharply after the economic crisis in 2009 to a level lower than that in the Pacific Rim. The European economic integration index recovered in 2011 but again fell below that of the Pacific Rim in 2013. Moreover, sectoral economic integration indices suggest what Europe depends on Russia in natural resources makes the European economic integration index unstable. On the other hand, the indices of the Pacific Rim suggest the steady economic integration index of the Pacific Rim captures the stable global value chains from natural resources to construction and manufactures of motor vehicles and high-tech products.

Putting Labour in its Place: Labour Process Analysis and Global Value Chains

2015 ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phil Taylor ◽  
Kirsty Newsome ◽  
Jennifer Bair ◽  
Al Rainnie
Keyword(s):  
Process Analysis ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Labour Process
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