IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jintdv/v37y2025i4p835-856.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Global Value Chain Embeddedness and Potential for National Export Structure Transformation

Author

Listed:
  • Yingjie Fu
  • Chang Song

Abstract

This study examines how embeddedness in global value chains (GVCs) affects the potential for national export structural transformation using country‐sector level data during the 2000–2014 period. The empirical results indicate that increased GVC participation and position positively impact the potential for export structure transformation. However, the length of the GVC production chain has a negative effect. The results reveal that improving technological capability and value‐added capacity contributes to cultivating the potential for structural transformation among GVC participants. However, extending the production chain may mitigate the positive effects of value‐added capability improvements and impede structural transformation potential.

Suggested Citation

  • Yingjie Fu & Chang Song, 2025. "Global Value Chain Embeddedness and Potential for National Export Structure Transformation," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(4), pages 835-856, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:37:y:2025:i:4:p:835-856
    DOI: 10.1002/jid.3990
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3990
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/jid.3990?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Amendolagine, Vito & Presbitero, Andrea F. & Rabellotti, Roberta & Sanfilippo, Marco, 2019. "Local sourcing in developing countries: The role of foreign direct investments and global value chains," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 73-88.
    2. Gloria Cicerone & Philip McCann & Viktor A Venhorst, 2020. "Promoting regional growth and innovation: relatedness, revealed comparative advantage and the product space," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 293-316.
    3. 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.
    4. Buckley, Peter J. & Craig, Thomas D. & Mudambi, Ram, 2019. "Time to learn? Assignment duration in global value chain organization," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 508-518.
    5. Gary Gereffi & Joonkoo Lee, 2016. "Economic and Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains and Industrial Clusters: Why Governance Matters," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(1), pages 25-38, January.
    6. Carmen Díaz-Mora & Rosario Gandoy & Belen Gonzalez-Diaz, 2018. "Strengthening the stability of exports through GVC participation," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 45(3), pages 610-637, August.
    7. Gabriel R G Benito & Bent Petersen & Lawrence S Welch, 2019. "The global value chain and internalization theory," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(8), pages 1414-1423, October.
    8. Yu, Chunjiao & Luo, Zhechong, 2018. "What are China's real gains within global value chains? Measuring domestic value added in China's exports of manufactures," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 263-273.
    9. Desmarchelier, Benoît & Regis, Paulo José & Salike, Nimesh, 2018. "Product space and the development of nations: A model of product diversification," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 34-51.
    10. Laurie S. M. Reijnders & Marcel P. Timmer & Xianjia Ye, 2021. "Labour demand in global value chains: Is there a bias against unskilled work?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(9), pages 2547-2571, September.
    11. Torres Mazzi, Caio & Foster-McGregor, Neil & Estefânia de Sousa Ferreira, Glaucia, 2021. "Production fragmentation and upgrading opportunities for exporters: An empirical assessment of the case of Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    12. Islam, Mohammad Tarikul & Chadee, Doren, 2024. "Adaptive governance and resilience of global value chains: A framework for sustaining the performance of developing-country suppliers during exogenous shocks," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(2).
    13. Bruno Carballa Smichowski & Cédric Durand & Steven Knauss, 2021. "Participation in global value chains and varieties of development patterns," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 45(2), pages 271-294.
    14. Nicola D Coniglio & Raffaele Lagravinese & Davide Vurchio & Massimo Armenise, 2018. "The pattern of structural change: testing the product space framework," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(4), pages 763-785.
    15. Islam, Mohammad Tarikul & Polonsky, Michael Jay, 2020. "Validating scales for economic upgrading in global value chains and assessing the impact of upgrading on supplier firms’ performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 144-159.
    16. Karishma Banga, 2023. "Global value chains and product sophistication in developing countries; the case of Indian manufacturing," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(4), pages 509-536, May.
    17. ., 2024. "Foreign direct investment and industrial development," Chapters, in: Transforming Poor Economies, chapter 9, pages 159-176, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    18. Rohit, Kumar, 2023. "Global value chains and structural transformation: Evidence from the developing world," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 285-299.
    19. Fu, Xiaolan & Emes, David & Hou, Jun, 2021. "Multinational enterprises and structural transformation in emerging and developing countries: A survey of the literature," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(2).
    20. Kailan Tian & Erik Dietzenbacher & Richard Jong‐A‐Pin, 2022. "Global value chain participation and its impact on industrial upgrading," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(5), pages 1362-1385, May.
    21. Murphree, Michael & Anderson, John (Andy), 2018. "Countering Overseas Power in Global Value Chains: Information Asymmetries and Subcontracting in the Plastics Industry," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 123-136.
    22. Jacint Balaguer & Manuel Cantavella-Jorda, 2004. "Structural change in exports and economic growth: cointegration and causality analysis for Spain (1961-2000)," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(5), pages 473-477.
    23. Zhixi Wan & Brian Wu, 2017. "When Suppliers Climb the Value Chain: A Theory of Value Distribution in Vertical Relationships," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(2), pages 477-496, February.
    24. Daria Taglioni & Deborah Winkler, 2016. "Making Global Value Chains Work for Development," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 24426, April.
    25. Ashraf, Sania & P., Jithin & Slim, Skander & Najeeb, Roshen, 2023. "Global value chains and economic complexity index: Evidence from generalized panel quantile regression," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 347-365.
    26. Arthur Lewbel, 1997. "Constructing Instruments for Regressions with Measurement Error when no Additional Data are Available, with an Application to Patents and R&D," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(5), pages 1201-1214, September.
    27. Gideon Ndubuisi & Solomon Owusu, 2021. "How important is GVC participation to export upgrading?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(10), pages 2887-2908, October.
    28. Shen, Chunmiao & Zheng, Jianghuai, 2020. "Does global value chains participation really promote skill-biased technological change? Theory and evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 10-18.
    29. C. A. Hidalgo & B. Klinger & A. -L. Barabasi & R. Hausmann, 2007. "The Product Space Conditions the Development of Nations," Papers 0708.2090, arXiv.org.
    30. Mostafiz, Md Imtiaz & Musteen, Martina & Saiyed, Abrarali & Ahsan, Mujtaba, 2022. "COVID-19 and the global value chain: Immediate dynamics and long-term restructuring in the garment industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1588-1603.
    31. 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.
    32. Lucia Tajoli & Giulia Felice, 2018. "Global Value Chains Participation and Knowledge Spillovers in Developed and Developing Countries: An Empirical Investigation," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(3), pages 505-532, July.
    33. Yoko Asuyama, 2019. "Skill Sorting and Production Linkages: Evidence from India," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 57(2), pages 125-158, June.
    34. Khan, Mushtaq H., 2019. "Knowledge, skills and organizational capabilities for structural transformation," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 42-52.
    35. Valentina De Marchi & Elisa Giuliani & Roberta Rabellotti, 2018. "Do Global Value Chains Offer Developing Countries Learning and Innovation Opportunities?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(3), pages 389-407, July.
    36. Rashmi Banga, 2014. "Linking into Global Value Chains Is Not Sufficient: Do You Export Domestic Value Added Contents?," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 29, pages 267-297.
    37. Ding, Yibing & Zhuang, Yuhang & Zhang, Liyunpeng & Yang, Gongyan, 2024. "Industrial policy and potential for export upgrading: Evidence from government-approved projects in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    38. Pierluigi Montalbano & Silvia Nenci & Carlo Pietrobelli, 2018. "Opening and linking up: firms, GVCs, and productivity in Latin America," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 917-935, April.
    39. Liena Kano, 2018. "Global value chain governance: A relational perspective," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(6), pages 684-705, August.
    40. Peter J. Buckley, 2021. "Exogenous and endogenous change in global value chains," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(2), pages 221-227, June.
    41. Gnidchenko, Andrey A., 2021. "Structural transformation and quality ladders: Evidence from the new Theil's decomposition," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 281-291.
    42. Bhushan Praveen Jangam & Badri Narayan Rath, 2021. "Does global value chain participation enhance domestic value‐added in exports? Evidence from emerging market economies," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 1681-1694, April.
    43. Stefan Pahl & Marcel P. Timmer, 2020. "Do Global Value Chains Enhance Economic Upgrading? A Long View," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(9), pages 1683-1705, July.
    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. Solomon Owusu, 2025. "Global value chains and aggregate productivity growth in developing countries: the role of intra-sectoral allocation and structural change," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 161(1), pages 89-119, February.
    2. Zicheng Ma & Liang Wang & Xin Zheng & Jianqi Zhang, 2022. "National Innovation Systems and Global Value Chain Participation: The Role of Entrepreneurship," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(2), pages 897-920, April.
    3. Stojčić, Nebojša & Matić, Matija, 2024. "A journey toward global value chain upgrading: Exploring the transition from backward to forward integration," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    4. Wei, Long & Li, Wenjing & Jin, Zhida, 2024. "Global value chains participation and trade-induced carbon inequality: A comparative analysis of developed and developing economies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    5. Nadia Zahoor & Jie Wu & Huda Khan & Zaheer Khan, 2023. "De-globalization, International Trade Protectionism, and the Reconfigurations of Global Value Chains," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 63(5), pages 823-859, October.
    6. Nenci, Silvia & Fusacchia, Ilaria & Giunta, Anna & Montalbano, Pierluigi & Pietrobelli, Carlo, 2022. "Mapping global value chain participation and positioning in agriculture and food: stylised facts, empirical evidence and critical issues," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 11(2), July.
    7. Ping Hua, 2022. "How did China Raise its Manufacturing Domestic Value added in Exports through GVC Moving up?," Post-Print hal-03767822, HAL.
    8. Can Li & Qi He & Han Ji & Shengguo Yu & Jiao Wang, 2023. "Reexamining the Impact of Global Value Chain Participation on Regional Economic Growth: New Evidence Based on a Nonlinear Model and Spatial Spillover Effects with Panel Data from Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-31, September.
    9. R. Boschma & Eduardo Hernández-Rodríguez & A. Morrison & C. Pietrobelli, 2021. "Do global value chains and local capabilities matter for economic complexity in EU regions?," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2139, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Dec 2021.
    10. Delera, Michele & Pietrobelli, Carlo & Calza, Elisa & Lavopa, Alejandro, 2022. "Does value chain participation facilitate the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in developing countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    11. Ping Hua, 2021. "How did China rise its manufacturing domestic value added in exports through GVC moving up?," Working Papers hal-03373508, HAL.
    12. Liena Kano & Eric W. K. Tsang & Henry Wai-chung Yeung, 2020. "Global value chains: A review of the multi-disciplinary literature," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 577-622, June.
    13. 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.
    14. Carlo Pietrobelli & Roberta Rabellotti & Ari Van Assche, 2021. "Making sense of global value chain-oriented policies: The trifecta of tasks, linkages, and firms," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(3), pages 327-346, September.
    15. Islam, Mohammad Tarikul & Polonsky, Michael Jay, 2020. "Validating scales for economic upgrading in global value chains and assessing the impact of upgrading on supplier firms’ performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 144-159.
    16. Hammoudeh, Shawkat & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar & Abakah, Emmanuel Joel Aikins & Adeabah, David, 2023. "Global value chains in sub-Saharan Africa: The role of business regulations, policies and institutions," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    17. Ron Boschma, 2024. "An evolutionary approach to regional studies on global value chains," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(7), pages 1492-1500, July.
    18. 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.
    19. Akçomak, Ibrahim Semih & Bürken, Serkan, 2019. "The middle-technology trap: The case of the automotive industry in Turkey," MERIT Working Papers 2019-006, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    20. Thakur, Rahul & Sharma, Sakshi, 2025. "Does global value chain participation and position lead to innovation in an emerging economy? Industry-level evidence from Indian manufacturing industries," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).

    More about this item

    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:wly:jintdv:v:37:y:2025:i:4:p:835-856. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/5102/home .

    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.