Governance in agrifood global value chain: the scientific field in the recent 15 years

Abstract

Sustainable agrifood global value chains depend on chain governance by the lead firm and transaction governance. However, the link between them is still unclear. We therefore investigated the scientific field on “governance in agrifood global value chain” over 15 years in the Scopus and Web of Science databases through two analyses: a descriptive bibliometric and a keywords co-occurrence analysis. Our descriptive results show that the research on the theme has increased over the years, with a concentration of the papers published in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, with emphasis on Wageningen University. The network graph showed a multidisciplinary theoreticomplcal field and four axes: chain governance; transaction governance; horizontal relationships; political and structural elements. The chain and the transaction governance are indirectly linked by the concept of upgrading, compromising sustainability’s holistic view. Although the sustainability of the chain depends on both levels of governance, this bibliometric study showed that there is a gap to be filled in this topic. We propose a study in the light of both concepts, considering upgrading, vertical and horizontal relationships, as well as public policies.