Slicing Up Global Value Chains

Bibliographic Data

ID4029906
AuthorsMarcel P Timmer (0000-0001-6397-4417, Professor and Director of the Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC), University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.), Abdul Azeez Erumban (0000-0003-2806-6119, Senior Economist at The Conference Board, Brussels, Belgium.), Bart Los (0000-0001-5850-4795, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.), Robert Stehrer (0000-0002-4120-4953, Staff Economist and Deputy Scientific Director at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw), Vienna, Austria.), Gaaitzen J De Vries (0000-0003-4166-8173, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands. .)
Year2014
Volume28
Issue2
Pages99-118
Publication date2014-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Economic Perspectives (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0895-3309 • E-ISSN: 1944-7965
PublisherAmerican Economic Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1257/jep.28.2.99
OpenAlexW1989104954
LanguageEN
Citations received118
References cited36

In this paper, we "slice up the global value chain" using a decomposition technique that has recently become feasible due to the development of the World Input-Output Database. We trace the value added by all labor and capital that is directly and indirectly needed for the production of final manufacturing goods. The production systems of these goods are highly prone to international fragmentation as many stages can be undertaken in any country with little variation in quality. We seek to establish a series of facts concerning the global fragmentation of production that can serve as a starting point for future analysis. We describe four major trends. First, international fragmentation, as measured by the foreign value-added content of production, has rapidly increased since the early 1990s. Second, in most global value chains there is a strong shift towards value being added by capital and high-skilled labor, and away from less-skilled labor. Third, within global value chains, advanced nations increasingly specialize in activities carried out by high-skilled workers. Fourth, emerging economies surprisingly specialize in capital-intensive activities

Business · Comparative advantage · Economics · Global value chain · Industrial organization · International trade · Microeconomics · Computer Science · Economic and Technological Innovation · Global Trade and Competitiveness · Global trade and economics