Overcoming enduring inequalities in Global Value Chains? Interpreting the case of Brazil’s Covid-19 vaccine supply through a chess metaphor

Organization ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 135050842110572
Author(s):  
Ely L Paiva ◽  
Priscila LS Miguel
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Global South ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Vaccination Rates ◽  
The North ◽  
Global North

This article draws on the Covid-19 vaccine supply chain to illustrate the structural inequalities characterising Global Value Chains. We show how the highly unequal vaccine distribution between the Global North and the Global South is shaped by the concentration of high-added value activities of vaccine development and production in the Global North and their nationalistic economic policies. These policies are short-sighted, as they fail to take account of the health risks that low vaccination rates in the Global South entail, not only for the North, but for the whole world. Using the metaphor of pawns moving in a chess game, we advance two possible scenarios. In the first, regional suppliers from low- and middle-income Global South countries will remain unimportant actors in the global vaccine supply chain, leaving inequalities intact. In the second, these suppliers will upgrade their activities in the vaccine supply chain, supported by public policies fostering industrial infrastructure, systems reforms and technological standardisation, leading to a more polycentric supply chain configuration. The persisting concentration of the governance of Global Value Chains in the Global North, we argue, will not only exacerbate current inequalities, but also likely lead to worldwide health, economic and social vulnerabilities.

scholarly journals Turning ‘evidence for development’ on its head: A view from Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Global South ◽  
African Philosophy ◽  
Informed Decision Making ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
The North ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
Resource Poor ◽  
Global North

The ‘evidence for development’ community aims to produce research that is useful and used to address issues of poverty and inequality, largely in low- and middle-income countries (often referred to as the ‘global South’). The unspoken norm, however, is that much of the engagement, funding and attention is focused on organizations and individuals in the global North, with the assumption that they are effective in supporting the needs of the global South. In this research paper, I explore the initiatives and the individuals and organizations that are working within the ‘evidence for development’ community in Africa, using the lens of the African philosophy of ubuntu. I present findings from a programme of work undertaken across Africa to identify and better understand the innovation in evidence-informed decision-making taking place across the continent. I demonstrate that, while resource-poor and not well publicized, the evidence community in Africa is world leading in a number of respects. These include the interconnections within its continent-wide network, and the engagement of some governments within its ecosystem. Reflecting on these findings, I discuss and critique the underlying foundations of patriarchy, development and coloniality that shape the field of ‘evidence for development’. I highlight how, in an era of decoloniality, post-‘development’ and antipatriarchy, the ‘evidence for development’ community risks becoming outdated and being ineffective if it does not engage with the challenges inherent within these concepts. I argue that using the alternative lens of ubuntu enables us to celebrate the successes of Southern evidence communities, and to work together on a level footing with the North to tackle the challenges of poverty and inequality through better use of evidence.

Corporate social responsibility: A supplier-centered perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (8) ◽  
pp. 1700-1709
Author(s):  
Peter Lund-Thomsen
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Short Review ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Global South ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Global North ◽  
Corporate Social

This article develops a supplier-centered approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in global value chains (GVCs) by answering the research question: why are suppliers in the Global South that are integrated into GVCs often highly skeptical of CSR? As CSR constitutes a vague and contested term, we undertake a short review of some of the most dominant CSR conceptions that have emerged in the last 20 years. We argue that these CSR definitions are often framed and promoted by key actors in the Global North, the home of many lead firms, in ways that overlook the unique challenges and broader circumstances faced by suppliers and countries in the Global South. We conclude by combining the key considerations of local suppliers in a more consolidated supplier perspective on CSR in GVCs.

scholarly journals Trade, Global Value Chains and Development – What Role for National Development Banks?

2020 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
pp. 9-33
Author(s):  
Petra Dünhaupt ◽  
Hansjörg Herr
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Policy ◽  
National Development ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Global South ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Foreign Direct Investments ◽  
Catching Up ◽  
National Currencies ◽  
Global North ◽  
Development Banks

Summary: In this article we discuss the need for industrial policy and role of development banks for economic development. The catching-up of countries in the Global South to productivity levels and living standards of the Global North is the exception. There are two main economic explanations for this observation. First, developing countries are pushed to low-tech and labor-intensive productions and tasks in global value chains. This offers the advantage of easier industrialisation, but it does not automatically lead to productivity levels comparable with the Global North. Foreign direct investments only partially help to overcome this problem. Second, low trust in national currencies in the Global South leads to distorted financial markets which do not provide sufficient credit for investment. National development banks play a key role in facilitating the economic catching-up of the Global South as part of needed industrial policies. They can alleviate distortions in the financial system and at the same time support the transformation of the economy towards higher productivity and ecological transformation. We explain development bank policies by using the KfW as an example of an effective industrial policy.

scholarly journals Global Value Chains’ Disaggregation through Supply Chain Collaboration, Market Turbulence, and Performance Outcomes

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4151
Author(s):  
Amit Arora ◽  
Anshu Arora ◽  
Julius Anyu ◽  
John McIntyre
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Supply Chain Collaboration ◽  
Doing Business ◽  
Market Turbulence ◽  
Relational Outcomes

This research examines supply chain collaboration effects on organizational performance in global value chain (GVC) infrastructure by focusing on GVC disaggregation, market turbulence, inequality, market globalization, product diversity, exploitation, and technological breakthroughs. The research strives to develop a better understanding of global value chains through relational view, behavioral, and contingency theories along with institutional and stakeholder theories of supply chains. Based on conflicting insights from these theories, this research investigates how relationships and operational outcomes of collaboration fare when market turbulence is present. Data is obtained and analyzed from focal firms that are engaged in doing business in emerging markets (e.g., India), and headquartered in the United States. We investigate relational outcomes (e.g., trust, credibility, mutual respect, and relationship commitment) among supply chain partners, and found that these relational outcomes result in better operational outcomes (e.g., profitability, market share increase, revenue generation, etc.). From managerial standpoint, supply chain managers should focus on relational outcomes that can strengthen operational outcomes in GVCs resulting in stronger organizational performance. The research offers valuable insights for theory and practice of global value chains by focusing on the GVC disaggregation through the measurement of market turbulence, playing a key role in the success of collaborative buyer–supplier relationships (with a focus on US companies doing business in India) leading to an overall improved firm performance.

Blockchain and allied technologies for food supply chain risk mitigation in global value chains

2021 ◽  
pp. 105-122
Author(s):  
Ramesh Krishnan ◽  
Phi Yen Phan ◽  
Arshinder Kaur ◽  
Sanjoy Kumar Paul
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Supply Chain Risk ◽  
Food Supply Chain

scholarly journals Are Multinational Companies Responsible for Working Conditions in Their Supply Chains? From Intuition to Argument

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja Dänzer
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Multinational Companies ◽  
Support Programs ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Promising Strategy ◽  
Supply Chain Governance ◽  
Prospective Responsibility

AbstractAlthough many people seem to share the intuition that multinational companies (MNEs) carry a responsibility for the working conditions in their supply chains, the justification offered for this assumption is usually rather unclear. This article explores a promising strategy for grounding the relevant intuition and for rendering its content more precise. It applies the criteria of David Miller's connection theory of remedial responsibility to different forms of supply chain governance as characterized by the Global Value Chains (GVC) framework. The analysis suggests that the criteria for identifying MNEs as remedially responsible for bad working conditions in their direct suppliers are fulfilled in many cases, even though differentiations are required with regard to the different supply chain governance structures. MNEs thus have a duty to make sure currently bad working conditions in their suppliers are changed for the better. Moreover, since production in supply chains for structural reasons continuously generates remedial responsibility of MNEs for bad working conditions in their suppliers, it puts the prospective responsibility on them to make sure that their suppliers offer acceptable working conditions. Further, it is suggested that the remedial responsibility of MNEs might require them to make financial compensation to victims of bad working conditions and in grave cases initiate or support programs to mitigate disastrous effects suffered by them.

Communication and the Global South

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doug Ashwell ◽  
Stephen M. Croucher
Keyword(s):  
Academic Research ◽  
Global South ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Alternative Development ◽  
The South ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
The North ◽  
Global North ◽  
A Site ◽  
Development Trajectories

The Global South–North divide has been conceptualized in political, cultural, economic, and developmental terms. When conceptualizing this divide, issues of economic growth/progress, technology, political and press freedom, and industrialization have all been used as indicators to delineate between the “North” and the “South.” The North has traditionally been seen as more economically, technologically, politically, and socially developed, as well as more industrialized and having more press freedom, for example; the South has been linked with poverty, disease, political tyranny, and overall lack of development. This conceptualization privileges development efforts in the Global South based on democratic government, capitalist economic structures with their attendant neoliberal agenda and processes of globalization. This negative view of the South is a site of contest with people of the South offering alternative and more positive views of the situation in the South and alternatives to globalization strategies. While there may be some identifiable difference between some of the countries in the identified Global South and Global North, globalization (economic, political, technological, etc.) is changing how the very Global South–North divide is understood. To best understand the implications of this divide, and the inequalities that it perpetuates, we scrutinize the Global South, detailing the background of the term “Global South,” and examine the effect of globalization upon subaltern groups in the Global South. We also discuss how academic research using frameworks of the Global North can exacerbate the problems faced by subaltern groups rather than offer them alternative development trajectories by empowering such groups to represent themselves and their own development needs. The culture-centred approach to such research is offered as alternative to overcome such problems. The terms usage in the communication discipline is also explained and the complexity of the term and its future is explored.

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