ABSTRACT
Global value chains, and in particular, the proliferation of a wide range of voluntary standards governing cross-border trade, have received much attention of late. This is reflected in the growing body of scholarly literature on the globalization of production networks, on competition and regulation in international trade and on commodity chains (Gereffi 1994; Humphrey and Schmitz 2000; Gereffi et al. 2005; Kaplinsky and Morris 2001) as well as in policy documents, project interventions and manuals in increasing use by development NGOs and donor organizations active in the South (e.g. GTZ 2007; ILO 2009). In the realm of development policy and practice, global value chains and the development thereof are considered instrumental for achieving desired outcomes, such as poverty alleviation, entrepreneurship and decent labour conditions. In the realm of scientific analysis, global value chains are a phenomenon for investigation. The concept primarily serves as a heuristic device that allows us to come to grips with the complexities of economic development, as it focuses on the networks and arrangements that bridge the entire chain of actors involved in the production of a particular commodity or service. Analysis places a value chain within the context of service providers and of participants that regulate the transactions between actors. This broader yet more specific conception of economic development aims to facilitate dialogues between these different actors.
