IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/wpaper/halshs-02953123.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Small Farm Upgrading in GVC: a Strategic Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Alexandre Berthe

    (UR2 - Université de Rennes 2, LIRIS - Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de recherche en innovations sociétales - UR2 - Université de Rennes 2)

  • Pascal Grouiez

    (UPCité - Université Paris Cité, LADYSS - Laboratoire Dynamiques Sociales et Recomposition des Espaces - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - UP8 - Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UPCité - Université Paris Cité)

Abstract

This article considers the analysis of upgrading strategies, focusing at the level of subordinate firms themselves. This approach develops the concept of "strategic upgrading". We study the institutional environment of subordinate firms, and we analyze subordinate firms' strategies through concepts from industrial economics, such as differentiation, diversification, and specialization. We thus reexamine the category of inter-chain upgrading, i.e., the improvement of the position of actors of a GVC by integrating a new GVC. We confront this proposal with a territorialized case study on the development of biogas production by farmers in the Ardennes. We observe that these farmers are part of the emerging GVC of biomass energy based on their experience as "captive" actors in the agro-industrial GVC. In particular, they have sized their biogas production units to be autonomous regarding agro-industry. This new activity also has feedback effects on their positioning in the agro-industrial GVC.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexandre Berthe & Pascal Grouiez, 2020. "Small Farm Upgrading in GVC: a Strategic Perspective," Working Papers halshs-02953123, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-02953123
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-02953123
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-02953123/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ponte, Stefano & Kelling, Ingrid & Jespersen, Karen Sau & Kruijssen, Froukje, 2014. "The Blue Revolution in Asia: Upgrading and Governance in Aquaculture Value Chains," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 52-64.
    2. Mohan, Sarah, 2016. "Institutional Change in Value Chains: Evidence from Tea in Nepal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 52-65.
    3. Mariarosaria Agostino & Anna Giunta & Jeffrey B. Nugent & Domenico Scalera & Francesco Trivieri, 2013. "The Productivity of Italian Industrial Suppliers (1998-2006). Does Participation in Global Value Chains Matter?," Revue d'économie industrielle, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(4), pages 85-112.
    4. Krugman, Paul, 1980. "Scale Economies, Product Differentiation, and the Pattern of Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(5), pages 950-959, December.
    5. Giuliani, Elisa & Pietrobelli, Carlo & Rabellotti, Roberta, 2005. "Upgrading in Global Value Chains: Lessons from Latin American Clusters," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 549-573, April.
    6. Neil M. Coe & Peter Dicken & Martin Hess, 2008. "Global production networks: realizing the potential," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 271-295, May.
    7. Coe, Neil M. & Yeung, Henry Wai-chung, 2015. "Global Production Networks: Theorizing Economic Development in an Interconnected World," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198703914.
    8. Dieter Ernst & Linsu Kim, 2002. "Global Production Networks, Information Technology and Knowledge Diffusion," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 147-153.
    9. Ernst, Dieter & Kim, Linsu, 2002. "Global production networks, knowledge diffusion, and local capability formation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(8-9), pages 1417-1429, December.
    10. John Pickles & Adrian Smith & Milan Bucěk & Poli Roukova & Robert Begg, 2006. "Upgrading, Changing Competitive Pressures, and Diverse Practices in the East and Central European Apparel Industry," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 38(12), pages 2305-2324, December.
    11. Ponte, Stefano & Ewert, Joachim, 2009. "Which Way is "Up" in Upgrading? Trajectories of Change in the Value Chain for South African Wine," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 1637-1650, October.
    12. Lotte Thomsen, 2007. "Accessing global value chains? The role of business-state relations in the private clothing industry in Vietnam," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(6), pages 753-776, November.
    13. Gary Herrigel, 2004. "Emerging Strategies and Forms of Governance in High-Wage Component Manufacturing Regions," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(1-2), pages 45-79.
    14. Labarthe, Pierre & Laurent, Catherine, 2013. "Privatization of agricultural extension services in the EU: Towards a lack of adequate knowledge for small-scale farms?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 240-252.
    15. Luiza Bazan & Lizbeth Navas-Alemán, 2004. "The underground revolution in the Sinos Valley: a comparison of upgrading in global and national value chains," Chapters, in: Hubert Schmitz (ed.), Local Enterprises in the Global Economy, chapter 5, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Pipkin, Seth, 2011. "Local Means in Value Chain Ends: Dynamics of Product and Social Upgrading in Apparel Manufacturing in Guatemala and Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 2119-2131.
    17. John Humphrey & Hubert Schmitz, 2002. "How does insertion in global value chains affect upgrading in industrial clusters?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(9), pages 1017-1027.
    18. Carrosio, Giovanni, 2013. "Energy production from biogas in the Italian countryside: Policies and organizational models," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 3-9.
    19. Bair, Jennifer & Gereffi, Gary, 2001. "Local Clusters in Global Chains: The Causes and Consequences of Export Dynamism in Torreon's Blue Jeans Industry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(11), pages 1885-1903, November.
    20. Ulrich Elmer Hansen & Niels Fold & Teis Hansen, 2016. "Upgrading to lead firm position via international acquisition: learning from the global biomass power plant industry," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 131-153.
    21. Binnur Neidik & Gary Gereffi, 2006. "Explaining Turkey's Emergence and Sustained Competitiveness as a Full-Package Supplier of Apparel," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 38(12), pages 2285-2303, December.
    22. Murphy, James T., 2007. "The Challenge of Upgrading in African Industries: Socio-Spatial Factors and the Urban Environment in Mwanza, Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1754-1778, October.
    23. Gereffi, Gary, 1999. "International trade and industrial upgrading in the apparel commodity chain," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 37-70, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yoruk, Deniz E., 2019. "Dynamics of firm-level upgrading and the role of learning in networks in emerging markets," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 341-369.
    2. Eduardo Hernandez-Rodriguez & Ron Boschma & Andrea Morrison & Xianjia Ye, 2023. "Functional upgrading and downgrading in global value chains: Evidence from EU regions using a relatedness/complexity framework," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2316, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jul 2023.
    3. Choksy, Umair Shafi & Ayaz, Muhammad & Al-Tabbaa, Omar & Parast, Mahour, 2022. "Supplier resilience under the COVID-19 crisis in apparel global value chain (GVC): The role of GVC governance and supplier’s upgrading," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 249-267.
    4. Pipkin, Seth & Fuentes, Alberto, 2017. "Spurred to Upgrade: A Review of Triggers and Consequences of Industrial Upgrading in the Global Value Chain Literature," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 536-554.
    5. Jan Fagerberg & Bengt-Åke Lundvall & Martin Srholec, 2018. "Global Value Chains, National Innovation Systems and Economic Development," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(3), pages 533-556, July.
    6. Linqing Liu & Shiye Mei, 2016. "Visualizing the GVC research: a co-occurrence network based bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(2), pages 953-977, November.
    7. Valentina De Marchi & Matthew Alford, 2022. "State policies and upgrading in global value chains: A systematic literature review," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 88-111, March.
    8. Ron Boschma, 2021. "Global Value Chains from an Evolutionary Economic Geography perspective: a research agenda," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2134, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Nov 2021.
    9. Roman Jurowetzki & Rasmus Lema & Bengt-Åke Lundvall, 2018. "Combining Innovation Systems and Global Value Chains for Development: Towards a Research Agenda," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(3), pages 364-388, July.
    10. Pasquali, Giovanni & Krishnan, Aarti & Alford, Matthew, 2021. "Multichain strategies and economic upgrading in global value chains: Evidence from Kenyan horticulture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    11. Jan van der Borg & Erwin van Tuijl, 2011. "Upgrading of Symbolic and Synthetic Knowledge Bases: Analysis of the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry and the Automotive Industry in China," Working Papers 2011_25, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    12. Pietrobelli, Carlo & Rabellotti, Roberta, 2011. "Global Value Chains Meet Innovation Systems: Are There Learning Opportunities for Developing Countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1261-1269, July.
    13. Ziliang Deng & Xufei Ma & Ziyan Zhu, 2022. "Transactional Dependence and Technological Upgrading in Global Value Chains," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 390-416, March.
    14. Ponte, Stefano & Kelling, Ingrid & Jespersen, Karen Sau & Kruijssen, Froukje, 2014. "The Blue Revolution in Asia: Upgrading and Governance in Aquaculture Value Chains," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 52-64.
    15. Andrea González & Juan Carlos Hallak, 2022. "Relational links for insertion in non‐mass global value chains: Opportunities for middle‐income countries," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 653-672, May.
    16. Rory Horner, 2022. "Global value chains, import orientation, and the state: South Africa’s pharmaceutical industry," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 68-87, March.
    17. Hansen, Ulrich Elmer & Lema, Rasmus, 2019. "The co-evolution of learning mechanisms and technological capabilities: Lessons from energy technologies in emerging economies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 241-257.
    18. Gries, T. & Grundmann, R. & Palnau, I. & Redlin, M., 2015. "Does technological change drive inclusive industrialization? : A review of major concepts and findings," MERIT Working Papers 2015-044, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    19. Lindsay Whitfield & Cornelia Staritz, 2021. "Local supplier firms in Madagascar’s apparel export industry: Upgrading paths, transnational social relations and regional production networks," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(4), pages 763-784, June.
    20. Mahmudul Hasan Fouji & Imranul Hoque, 2021. "Supplier Internationalization Through Upgrading in Global Supply Chain: Evidence from the Garments Industry of Bangladesh," International Journal of Global Business and Competitiveness, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 116-129, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Global value chain (GVC); interchain upgrading; subordinate firms' strategies; agro-industrial firms; biomass energy; biogas; agriculture; joint products;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-02953123. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.