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Trade costs, global value chains and economic development

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  • Yuan Zi

Abstract

This paper develops a model to study the impact of trade costs on developing countries’ industrialization when sequential production is networked in global value chains (GVCs). In a two-country setting, a decrease in trade costs of intermediates is associated with South joining and moving up the value chain and both North and South experiencing a welfare improvement. The wage gap between North and South first increases and then decreases. Extending the model to a multi-country setting, I show that reduced trade frictions lead to South countries joining GVCs due to wage differentials and low trade costs. This increases the wage in North but may decrease the wages of South countries that are already part of the network. Moreover, South countries that join tend to be regionally clustered. The model provides a first look at GVCs from the development angle, and raises policy questions regarding the governance of GVCs.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuan Zi, 2020. "Trade costs, global value chains and economic development," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 249-291.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:jecgeo:v:20:y:2020:i:1:p:249-291.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jeg/lby022
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jennifer Bair & Mathew Mahutga & Marion Werner & Liam Campling, 2021. "Capitalist crisis in the “age of global value chainsâ€," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(6), pages 1253-1272, September.
    2. Montalbano, Pierluigi & Nenci, Silvia, 2022. "Does global value chain participation and positioning in the agriculture and food sectors affect economic performance? A global assessment," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    3. Sabina Szymczak, 2023. "Systematic literature review: theory on GVCs' impact on wages, employment, and productivity," GUT FME Working Paper Series A 71, Faculty of Management and Economics, Gdansk University of Technology.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Trade costs; industrialization; joining and moving up the value chain;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • F11 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Neoclassical Models of Trade
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration

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