Global Value Chains and Industrial Development: Participation, Upgrading, and Connectivity [2024]

This book aims to investigate the global value chain (GVC) from a viewpoint of industrial development and examine how GVC participation, upgrading, and connectivity have affected structural transformation in developing economies. It first reviews the indexes to measure progresses in GVC participation and upgrading. Then it examines factors affecting these progresses, using original measures of connectivity, which are computed based on the complex network theory. Another distinguished feature of the study is its in-depth analyses on the relationship between economic development and GVC participation based on the hypothesis of nonlinear relationship which is drawn from authors past studies on Asian economies. Major findings include (1) inverted-U shaped relationship between backward participation and income levels, (2) U shaped relationship between forward participation and income level, (3) marginal but significant impacts of maritime and aviation connectivity on GVC participation, (4) significant and different roles of basic and advanced education on the upgrading in GVCs, and (5) the importance of technological intensities in export in sustaining economic growth.