Global Value Chains and International Trade Dynamics

Document Type

Editorial

Publication Title

Foreign Trade Review

Abstract

International trade through global value chains (GVCs) has helped the world split production of various goods and services across countries over time, providing a new dimension to globalisation (Gereffi et al., 2001). This has resulted in most products being ‘made in the world’. The story of comparative advantage in production of commodities stands modified as ‘comparative advantage in tasks’ (Blinder, 2006). Today, developing economies have the option of specialising in exportable tasks which could serve as the engine of trade-driven economic growth (Kummritz et al., 2017). Accordingly, trade agreements have proliferated to facilitate trade in parts and components. However, recent de-globalisation trends—including, the US–China trade war, the withdrawal of the USA and India from the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreements, respectively, the muted effectiveness of the WTO’s dispute settlement system and, most recently, the disruption of global trade and supply chains due to the COVID-19 crisis and the ongoing Ukraine crisis—raise questions about the future prospects of GVCs and more broadly about the future of globalisation (Amiti et al., 2019; Baldwin & Tomiura, 2020; Miroudot & Nordström, 2020). There are a number of academic questions that these developments generate, and this special issue entitled ‘Global Value Chains and International Trade Dynamics’ deals with a subset of these questions. We are grateful to the editor, Foreign Trade Review, and his/her team for giving us the opportunity to guest edit this special issue.

Publication Date

1-8-2022

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Volume

Vol.57

Issue

Iss.4

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