Browsing by Subject "Global Value Chains"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Application of Global Value Chains to Seafood Sustainability: Lessons from the mahi mahi industries of Ecuador and Peru
    (2014-04-25) Nanninga, Roxanne; Anhalzer, Gabriela
    Fish products have become the most traded food commodities worldwide but wild fish stocks face ever-increasing pressure from rising demand (Smith et al., 2010). Over 75% of the world’s fisheries are currently either fully or over exploited (FAO, 2014). Developing sustainable fisheries is critical if seafood is to remain available for future generations. Global Value Chain (GVC) analysis frames these challenges holistically by linking global and local scales in order to elucidate operations and relationships throughout the international supply chain. In this study we employ the GVC framework to analyze the production of mahi mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) from Ecuador and Peru that is exported to the United States. Information was collected from stakeholder interviews and analyzed in conjunction with trade and production data. This information was then used to construct product flow patterns, characterize governance structures, and provide insights for potential economic and environmental improvements. The importance of mahi mahi as an export commodity to small-scale fishers in developing countries combined with its highly migratory life history typify many of the challenges facing modern global fisheries. Peru and Ecuador together produce the highest volumes of mahi mahi globally. Nearly 60% of all mahi mahi imported into the United States comes from these two countries. In this analysis, we examine global trends in production and trade and track the two main product forms of mahi mahi—fresh and frozen—through the supply chain. This study also examines the transactions between actors in the supply chain and the private and public institutions acting upon them. Government regulations for fisheries, human health and safety, as well as international standards exert control at each level of the supply chain. Recently sustainability has become an additional criterion guiding the sourcing and sale of seafood. The US, one of the largest seafood buyers in the world, imports over 80% of its seafood. Private, market-based initiatives have emerged as a means of improving seafood sustainability in areas outside US fisheries management. The most prominent of these programs is the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), which aims to create demand-driven premiums or preferences for certified products. Motivated by their substantial shares in the US market, Ecuador and Peru are undergoing Fishery Improvement Projects for their mahi mahi fisheries, ultimately aimed at attaining MSC certification. Through an analysis of the governance structures our study examines the influence of various actors within the value chain. We thereby determine which actors hold the greatest leverage to affect changes regarding the decision-making and enforcement of sustainability. Adoption of initiatives that engage in more sustainable seafood sourcing by retailers in the United States creates pressure downstream to implement sustainability standards. Large companies and supply chain segments that are highly integrated can exert more power through the products they buy and sell on downstream supply chain actors. The Peruvian and Ecuadorian mahi mahi fleets are largely comprised of informal networks of artisanal fishers with relatively low technological capabilities. This scenario poses challenges to the effective implementation of private standards and fishery regulations. By contrast, processing plants exert a high degree of control over the supply and production of fish, better positioning them to implement or enforce sustainability measures. Our study recommends improvements for the industry’s environmental and economic outcomes. We do so by evaluating the position of both Ecuador and Peru in the global market and their progress on pre-existing sustainability programs. These include discussion on the importance of sustainable and innovative financing tools for market-based initiatives as well as the need for increased transparency and coordination. Our recommendations, informed by a comprehensive understanding of the value chain, may prove useful to industry leaders and environmental organizations interested in improving sustainability practices.
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    E-Commerce and Industrial Upgrading in the Chinese Apparel Value Chain
    (Journal of Contemporary Asia, 2019-01-01) Li, F; Frederick, S; Gereffi, G
    © 2018, © 2018 Journal of Contemporary Asia. The economic and social gains from electronic commerce (e-commerce) that promote innovation, industry upgrading and economic growth have been widely discussed. China’s successful experience with e-commerce has had a positive effect in transforming consumer-goods sectors of the economy and motivating economic reform. This article looks at how e-commerce reduces barriers to entry and enables firms to move up the value chain by using the global value chain framework to analyse the impact of e-commerce on the upgrading trajectories and governance structures of China’s apparel industry. For large Chinese brands, e-commerce has enabled end-market diversification. For small- and medium-sized enterprises, e-commerce has facilitated entry with functional upgrading as well as end-market upgrading. In the “two-sided markets” created by platform companies, the “engaged consumers” are the demand side of this market, and “e-commerce focused apparel firms” are the supply side of the new market. Consumers and platforms are more directly involved in value creation within this emerging internet-based structure.
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    Global Value Chain Studies: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead: Proceedings of the Doctorate ad Honorem Awarding Ceremony to Prof. Gary Gereffi and related workshop
    (2023-12-29)
    How to study the globalization of the economy? What are the scenarios for globalization processes in the post-pandemic era? This book takes stock of the current debate starting with the studies of Prof. Gary Gereffi (Duke University), who developed the theory of Global Value Chains and made a fundamental contribution to the understanding of the dynamics of international trade and the organization of production on a global scale. A research path that led important opportunities to visit and compare with the Italian and Veneto context in particular, through Prof. Gereffi’s numerous visiting periods between Venice and Padua. For these reasons, the University of Padua awarded Prof. Gary Gereffi an Honorary Doctorate in Economics and Management (based on the proposal of the Department of Economics and Management “Marco Fanno”) on March 13th, 2023. The volume contains the proceedings of the ceremony and the workshop organized with scholars who have collaborated with Prof. Gereffi and enriched studies on Global Value Chains through the Italian perspective. Insights from business practitioners are also included.
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    Public-Private Partnership Design for Inclusive Cocoa Global Value Chains in Ghana
    (2016-06-22) Harris, Bahari
    Within 10 years, there could be a severe global shortage in the supply of cocoa, according to industry practitioners and other experts. Due to global population growth and the emergence of a growing global middle class, by 2025 the cocoa crop would need to increase by nearly 50 per cent to keep up with projected demand. A potential shortage of supply is a direct threat to the business model of lead firms – including cocoa grinders and processors, chocolate confectioners, and retail distributors. But these international firms – the ones that will suffer the most if there is a shortage of cocoa supply – are helping create the market failure that is stifling sustainability. Functioning as a two-tiered consolidated oligopoly with a combined market share of approximately 89%, these firms enjoy the largest portion of value capture in the cocoa-chocolate global value chain (GVC). The smallholder cocoa producers, conversely, are trapped in low value-add segments of the GVC. In fact, most smallholder farmers survive on less than $1.00 per day per capita, on average in many cocoa exporting countries. In Ghana - the second largest producer of cocoa in the world - the government has accomplished little to help these smallholders upgrade and make cocoa an attractive sector for the next generation to inherit. The result – both in Ghana and around the world – is a lack of sustainability of the supply of cocoa. Demand is already beginning to outstrip supply. As a result of these underlying circumstances, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has posed the following policy question: "Under what conditions could USAID, as a development agency, support and enhance potential public-private partnerships in order to improve the bargaining power (and financial wherewithal) of smallholder organizations and farmers in the context of the global value chain for cocoa in Ghana?"