This Regional Studies Policy Impact Book brings together the latest academic evidence and public policy insights with global value chains (GVCs) and foreign direct investment (FDI). It comprises a comprehensive description and explanation of why they matter for regional development and policy. It focuses on how sub-national regions can leverage them for innovation and upgrading, or "levelling up". Specifically, its attention is on how regions can build, embed and reshape GVCs to their local enhancement. The book makes the case for proactive sub-national public policy, on the engagement of GVCs. Vertically engaging with FDI rather than setting the ground and letting manna drop from heaven. Its chosen approach is three-fold. First, it looks at why. Why GVCs and FDI matter and why sub-national policymakers should focus their attention on upgrading. It critically reviews different streams of research and evidence. This is in order to identify key definitions and conceptual foundations for the analysis of the link between GVCs, FDI and innovation at the sub-national and local level. Second, it looks at what. This is through new conceptualisations and critical insights on the regional drivers and impacts of global connectivity, bridging macro-international and micro-firm level approaches. Third, is the critical how. How policymakers can leverage GVCs and FDI for their regional benefit. It aims to review empirical evidence and available policy evaluation in order to highlight what works (and what does not) when leveraging these concepts to shape public policies with particular reference to less developed regions. If the above is of interest, then the book is for you. It is based on leading academic literature but uses non-technical language throughout making it engaging for policymakers, researchers and students alike.

Global value chains (GVCs) powered the surge of international trade after 1990 and now account for almost half of all trade. This shift enabled an unprecedented economic convergence: poor countries grew rapidly and began to catch up with richer countries. Since the 2008 global financial crisis, however, the growth of trade has been sluggish and the expansion of GVCs has stalled. Meanwhile, serious threats have emerged to the model of trade-led growth. New technologies could draw production closer to the consumer and reduce the demand for labor. And trade conflicts among large countries could lead to a retrenchment or a segmentation of GVCs. World Development Report 2020: Trading for Development in the Age of Global Value Chains examines whether there is still a path to development through GVCs and trade. It concludes that technological change is, at this stage, more a boon than a curse. GVCs can continue to boost growth, create better jobs, and reduce poverty provided that developing countries implement deeper reforms to promote GVC participation; industrial countries pursue open, predictable policies; and all countries revive multilateral cooperation.

A radical shift is underway in global value chains as they increasingly move beyond traditional manufacturing processes to services and other intangible assets. Digitization is a leading factor in this transformation, which is being accelerated by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The Global Value Chain Development Report, the third of a biennial series, explores this shift beyond production. The report shows how the rise of services value chains offers a new path to development and how protectionism and geopolitical tensions, environmental risks, and pandemics are undermining the stability of global value chains and forcing their reorganization geographically. It is co-published by the WTO, the Asian Development Bank, the Research Institute for Global Value Chains at the University of International Business and Economics, the Institute of Developing Economies, and the China Development Research Foundation.

This book examines how global value chains have evolved and the policy challenges they have created.

This book presents the results of a groundbreaking study on ‘spillovers’ of knowledge and technology from global value-chain oriented foreign direct investment (FDI) in Sub-Saharan Africa, and discusses implications for policymakers hoping to harness the power of FDI for economic development.

The book looks to address the following questions in a post-crisis world: How have lead firms responded to the crisis? Have they changed their traditional supply chain strategy and relocated and/or outsourced part of their production? How will those changes affect developing countries? What should be the policy responses to these changes?

This first report deals with some of the major development issues confronting the developing countries and explores the relationship of the major trends in the international economy to them. It is designed to help clarify some of the linkages between the international economy and domestic strategies in the developing countries against the background of growing interdependence and increasing complexity in the world economy. It assesses the prospects for progress in accelerating growth and alleviating poverty, and identifies some of the major policy issues which will affect these prospects.