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Capturing Value amidst Constant Global Restructuring? Information-Technology-Enabled Services in India, the Philippines and Kenya

Author

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  • Jana M. Kleibert

    (Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS))

  • Laura Mann

    (London School of Economics and Political Science)

Abstract

Information-technology-enabled services (ITES) has become a sector of promise for many low- and middle-income economies seeking to leapfrog industrialization and build knowledge-intensive economies. Yet as a sector defined by accelerating processes of commodification and skill elimination, its long-term developmental promise must be carefully scrutinised. Analysing the development of the sector in India, the Philippines and Kenya the paper reveals both the contextual nature of past successful ITES policies and their developmental vulnerabilities. Drawing on literature on industrial policies and global value chains and production networks, the paper critiques the existing policy approaches by arguing that they are largely focussed on enabling value and employment creation and that they pay insufficient attention to questions of value capture and long-term socio-economic transformation.

Suggested Citation

  • Jana M. Kleibert & Laura Mann, 2020. "Capturing Value amidst Constant Global Restructuring? Information-Technology-Enabled Services in India, the Philippines and Kenya," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(4), pages 1057-1079, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:32:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1057_s41287-020-00256-1
    DOI: 10.1057/s41287-020-00256-1
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    Cited by:

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    2. Mann, Laura & Iazzolino, Gianluca, 2021. "From development state to corporate leviathan: historicizing the infrastructural performativity of digital platforms within Kenyan agriculture," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 110725, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Laura Mann & Gianluca Iazzolino, 2021. "From Development State to Corporate Leviathan: Historicizing the Infrastructural Performativity of Digital Platforms within Kenyan Agriculture," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 52(4), pages 829-854, July.
    4. Keijser, Charlotte & Belderbos, René & Goedhuys, Micheline, 2021. "Governance and learning in global, regional, and local value chains: The IT enabled services industry in South Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    5. Hellen Mukiri‐Smith & Laura Mann & Shamel Azmeh, 2022. "A DC State of Mind? A Review of the World Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 53(6), pages 1421-1439, November.
    6. Katarzyna Cieslik & Roland Banya & Bhaskar Vira, 2022. "Offline contexts of online jobs: Platform drivers, decent work, and informality in Lagos, Nigeria," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 40(4), July.
    7. Marcus M. Larsen & Ben Mkalama & Michael J. Mol, 2023. "Outsourcing in Africa: How do the interactions between providers, multinationals, and the state lead to the evolution of the BPO industry?," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(4), pages 432-452, December.

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