Introduction: Governance, Rent-Seeking and Upgrading in Global Value Chains

Social Upgrading in the Bangladeshi Garment Sector Since Rana Plaza: Why Some Governance Matters More Than Others

“…In a (mostly literature-based) comparative study of economic and social upgrading in four industries (automobile, garment, electronics, and IT) and six countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, South Africa, and Vietnam) Dünhaupt et al (2020) describe the Bangladeshi garment industry as experiencing low economic and social upgrading, with the latter including little increases in real wages, little union power and only minor improvements of working conditions, mostly regarding fire and building safety. The authors suggest that upgrading in Bangladesh may be related to agreements such as the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety (hereafter Accord).…”

“…This path relies on the force of multiple stakeholders on different levels and from different societal spheres cooperating to set, implement, and monitor standards for better working conditions in factories (Gereffi & Lee, 2016; see also Dünhaupt et al, 2020). While some MSIs, such as the Fair Wear Foundation, still work on the basis of codes of conduct, others are geared towards more active advocacy interventions in production countries.…”

At the territorial roots of global processes: Heterogeneous modes of regional involvement in Global Value Chains

“…When the COVID-19 pandemic took place and the Russia-Ukraine conflict began, once again doubts on the sustainability and the generalized beneficial effects of GVCs were raised (Antràs, 2020). These doubts are emphasized by a paradox that emerges nowadays, when, at least at a first glance, no particular country can easily be labelled as beneficiary from GVCs involvement in terms of both economic and social upgrading (Teipen et al, 2022). On the one hand, in fact, developed countries have doubts about the advantages from offshoring, as it may lead to a decrease of productivity and jobs.…”