This thesis studies the determinants and outcomes of the skill systems in Mexico and Turkey, two crucial cases of middle-income countries (MICs). Despite the similarities in their previous institutional environments and links to the global economy, Turkey has experienced higher economic growth and better social development compared to Mexico. This PhD project focuses on the Mexican and Turkish skill systems, which have been significant institutions that affect the (different) economic and social characteristics of advanced industrialised countries in the literature on comparative capitalisms (CCs). This study builds its theoretical approach on the arguments of CCs literature and the claims of globalisation, where it draws from the studies on global value chains (GVCs). It scrutinises the patterns of convergence due to globalisation and ongoing divergence because of the variation of institutional structures. It examines the complementarities and outcomes of the skill systems, which will then help to understand the divergence of development experiences between Mexico and Turkey. This PhD project carries out a multi-level research and focuses the empirical study on auto parts-automotive value chains (AACs), which is an important industry for many MICs including Mexico and Turkey. The multi-level research first includes a macro-level study of local institutions in Mexico and Turkey, as well as the convergence patterns through the AACs. This is complemented with a micro-level analysis of firms' strategies to find workers with technical skills in production functions. The findings show that while there is some convergence in the Mexican and Turkish auto parts producers' skill needs, firms from these two countries adopt different strategies to address their needs. The distinctive national institutions in Mexico and Turkey, which are shaped by the differences in the state's involvement, are the main reasons for this divergence. The differences between the Mexican and Turkish skill systems have created different outcomes for both the firms and workers in these countries, and hence are expected to have contributed to their diverging development paths.

Esta pesquisa investiga como estratégia da empresa líder afeta o upgrading dos fornecedores em uma Cadeia Global de Valor. Indicações recentes sugerem que a orientação estratégica de uma cadeia de valor tem papel relevante no upgrading dos fornecedores. Associado a ciclos virtuosos de desenvolvimento, o upgrading representa o acesso a trajetórias distantes da \"corrida para o abismo\" na competição econômica mundial. A literatura tradicional não incorpora a estratégia do líder como elemento explicador do upgrading, considerando-o um resultado das atividades inovativas do fornecedor, sujeito a efeitos dos modos de governança que esta empresa experimenta. Com base nas literaturas de Cadeias Globais de Valor e de Estratégia de Operações, um modelo conceitual traz as prioridades competitivas do líder como variável moderadora da relação entre a governança entre firmas e o upgrading dos fornecedores. Um estudo de casos múltiplos foi conduzido com quatro empresas desenvolvedoras, que em conjunto formam uma amostra bastante diversa da Indústria Brasileira de Jogos Digitais. Além da influência da governança da cadeia e da estratégia do líder sobre o upgrading dos fornecedores, a discussão incluiu outras melhorias estratégicas e estratégias definidas por outros atores na cadeia. As conclusões são: (I) Em cadeias relacionais, o upgrading do fornecedor se alinha à estratégia do líder; (II) Em cadeias modulares, um fornecedor tem melhores oportunidades de realizar o upgrading sob estratégias de outros atores que não o líder da cadeia (III) Empresas com atuação em múltiplas cadeias têm melhores níveis de upgrading que empresas com operações focadas, além de potencializar outras mudanças estratégicas. / This research investigates how the leading firms\' strategy affects the suppliers\' upgrading in a Global Value Chain. Recent indications suggest that the strategic orientation of a value chain plays an important role in suppliers\' upgrading. Associated with virtuous development cycles, upgrading represents the access to trajectories alternative to the \"race to the bottom\" in the global economic competition. The traditional literature does not include the leader\'s strategy among the explanations of upgrading, considering it a result of the supplier\'s innovative activities, subject to effects from the experienced governance modes. Based on the literature on Global Value Chains and Operations Strategy, a conceptual model brings the leader\'s competitive priorities as moderating variables for the relationship between interfirm governance and suppliers\' upgrading. A multiple case study was conducted with four development firms, which together account for a diverse sample from the Brazilian Digital Games Industry. Beyond the influence of the chain governance and the leader\'s strategy over the suppliers\' upgrading, the discussion included other strategic improvements and strategies defined by other actors in the chain. The conclusions are: (I) In relational chains, the supplier\' upgrading occurs in line with the leader\'s strategy; (II) In modular chains, a supplier has better upgrading opportunities under strategies of other actors, besides the chain\'s leader (III) Companies operating in multiple chains have better upgrading levels than firms with focused operations, while also leveraging other strategic changes.

The thesis investigates the reasons behind the proliferation of non-governmental systems of labour regulation in the textile and apparel industry in the USA, European Union and Turkey. The aim of the study is to identify the main structural factors, strategies and agencies which drive the process for the emergence of these systems within the confines of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) discourse and assess their effectiveness and sustainability as a form of regulation. The thesis concludes that the incapability of the traditional institutions to regulate and equalize labour standards throughout the buyer-driven apparel value chains played a key role in the search for new regulatory mechanisms. Among many alternatives, the contests and compromises between different strategies constrained by the current structural factors resulted in the dominance of non-governmental systems of regulation resting on the extension of regulatory authority from the public to the private institutions. However, whilst filling some gaps between the organization of production and existing regulatory institutions through transforming into more collective forms, these systems tend to supplement the traditional institutions of regulation in a period of crisis rather than replacing them, since their scope fall short for solving the problems of standardization, equalization and generalization of the labour standards and their associated costs.

Esta pesquisa investiga como estratégia da empresa líder afeta o upgrading dos fornecedores em uma Cadeia Global de Valor. Indicações recentes sugerem que a orientação estratégica de uma cadeia de valor tem papel relevante no upgrading dos fornecedores. Associado a ciclos virtuosos de desenvolvimento, o upgrading representa o acesso a trajetórias distantes da \"corrida para o abismo\" na competição econômica mundial. A literatura tradicional não incorpora a estratégia do líder como elemento explicador do upgrading, considerando-o um resultado das atividades inovativas do fornecedor, sujeito a efeitos dos modos de governança que esta empresa experimenta. Com base nas literaturas de Cadeias Globais de Valor e de Estratégia de Operações, um modelo conceitual traz as prioridades competitivas do líder como variável moderadora da relação entre a governança entre firmas e o upgrading dos fornecedores. Um estudo de casos múltiplos foi conduzido com quatro empresas desenvolvedoras, que em conjunto formam uma amostra bastante diversa da Indústria Brasileira de Jogos Digitais. Além da influência da governança da cadeia e da estratégia do líder sobre o upgrading dos fornecedores, a discussão incluiu outras melhorias estratégicas e estratégias definidas por outros atores na cadeia. As conclusões são: (I) Em cadeias relacionais, o upgrading do fornecedor se alinha à estratégia do líder; (II) Em cadeias modulares, um fornecedor tem melhores oportunidades de realizar o upgrading sob estratégias de outros atores que não o líder da cadeia (III) Empresas com atuação em múltiplas cadeias têm melhores níveis de upgrading que empresas com operações focadas, além de potencializar outras mudanças estratégicas. / This research investigates how the leading firms\' strategy affects the suppliers\' upgrading in a Global Value Chain. Recent indications suggest that the strategic orientation of a value chain plays an important role in suppliers\' upgrading. Associated with virtuous development cycles, upgrading represents the access to trajectories alternative to the \"race to the bottom\" in the global economic competition. The traditional literature does not include the leader\'s strategy among the explanations of upgrading, considering it a result of the supplier\'s innovative activities, subject to effects from the experienced governance modes. Based on the literature on Global Value Chains and Operations Strategy, a conceptual model brings the leader\'s competitive priorities as moderating variables for the relationship between interfirm governance and suppliers\' upgrading. A multiple case study was conducted with four development firms, which together account for a diverse sample from the Brazilian Digital Games Industry. Beyond the influence of the chain governance and the leader\'s strategy over the suppliers\' upgrading, the discussion included other strategic improvements and strategies defined by other actors in the chain. The conclusions are: (I) In relational chains, the supplier\' upgrading occurs in line with the leader\'s strategy; (II) In modular chains, a supplier has better upgrading opportunities under strategies of other actors, besides the chain\'s leader (III) Companies operating in multiple chains have better upgrading levels than firms with focused operations, while also leveraging other strategic changes.

O cenário de negócios atual se caracteriza pela competição feroz em mercados globais, pela introdução de produtos com ciclos de vida cada vez mais curtos e por uma expectativa elevada por parte dos clientes e consumidores. Estas demandas vêm forçando as empresas a investirem seu foco e atenção em suas cadeias de suprimentos. Para reduzir custos e melhorar os níveis de serviço, as estratégias de fornecimento, de manufatura e de distribuição de produtos são elaboradas levando em consideração os vários elos e interações existentes na cadeia de suprimentos. As grandes empresas multinacionais manufatureiras do setor de bens de consumo não-duráveis entenderam rapidamente esta mensagem e alavancadas por suas escalas globais, passaram a tratar a gestão estratégica dos custos de matérias-primas como importante vantagem competitiva, utilizando seu imenso poder de negociação junto à sua base de fornecedores para obter descontos significativos na compra de grandes volumes de matérias-primas, reduzindo o número de fornecedores, através de processos de seleção estratégicas. Com altos volumes de produção (milhões de unidades por mês) e baixo preço unitário de venda, estas multinacionais (como Nestle, P&G, Unilever, e L.Oreal) se consolidaram como a parte mais forte de suas cadeias de suprimentos, através de seu poder de barganha sobre uma base dispersa de fornecedores e usando o poder de suas marcas sobre um comércio fragmentado e em bases locais. A internacionalização do varejo e o crescimento do poder de compra dos clientes (como Wal Mart, Carrefour e Tesco) trouxeram à tona um novo cenário, no qual existe uma disputa estratégica pela liderança da cadeia global de valor, entre varejistas poderosos, uma nova e concentrada base de fornecedores e as empresas manufatureiras de bens de consumo não-duráveis. A governança nestas cadeias globais de valor torna-se um tema para ser entendido e gerenciado. A importância da liderança nestas cadeias está relacionada às definições dos parâmetros chave que caracterizarão os processos da cadeia produtiva: o que e onde produzir, quanto e quando produzir e a que preço. Gereffi et al. desenvolveram um framework para explicar os padrões de governança em cadeias globais de valor, considerando que existe uma variedade de relações de governança que vão desde relações de mercado até operações integradas verticalmente. Foram definidas variáveischave que estabelecem o tipo de governança em uma dada cadeia global: complexidade de transações, habilidade de codificar as transações e competências da base fornecedora. Esta pesquisa propõe um processo para quantificar estas três variáveis-chave, através de oito dimensões operacionais e uma série de KPIs mensuráveis (indicadores chave de performance) a fim de suportar o completo entendimento e a análise do tipo de governança em uma cadeia global de valor, complementando o trabalho de Gereffi et al., com base em um estudo de caso no setor de higiene e limpeza doméstica no Brasil. Esta pesquisa também avalia como as empresas de bens de consumo não.duráveis selecionam e segmentam sua base de fornecedores, e se as ferramentas utilizadas atualmente ainda são validas neste novo ambiente de disputa pela governança. / The current business environment presents a strong competition in global markets, with cost pressures, focus on new products development with shorter lifetimes than ever and a high customer and clients expectations to have their needs and requirements satisfied. The big fast moving consumer goods companies have already understood these messages, and leveraged by their global scales, started to manage their raw and packaging materials costs in a more strategic and competitive way, using their bargain power over the supplier base to get significant cost savings through big volumes discounts concentrating their supplier base, with the reduction of the number of suppliers by the implementation of strategic sourcing tools. With high production volumes (million of units per month) and low unit price, the multinationals (as Nestle, P&G, Unilever, and L.Oreal) were the strongest part of their supply chains, through their purchase bargain power over the still not concentrated supplier base and using their powerful brands over a fragmented and local trade base. The internationalisation of trade and the growing of clients bargain power (as Wal Mart, Carrefour and Tesco) brought a new scenario, starting a strategic fight to have the leadership of the global value chain, among a powerful trade, a new concentrated supplier base and the manufacturing package consumer goods companies. Governance of these new global chains became than an issue to be understood and managed. The importance of the leadership in the global value chain is related to the definition of the key parameters that will characterise the chain productive process: what to produce, where to produce, how much to produce, when to produce and with what price. Gereffi et al. have developed a theoretical framework to explain governance patterns in global value chain, considering that there is a variety of governance relationships in the global chains, from arm.s length to vertical integrated operations. Key variables were defined to establish the type of governance in a given global chain: complexity of transactions, ability to codify transactions and capabilities in the supplier base. This research proposes a process to quantify these three key variables, presenting eight operational dimensions and a series of measurable KPIs (key performance indicators) in order to support the fully understanding and the analysis of the governance type in a global value chain, building on the framework defined by Gereffi et al., based on a case study in the household care business in Brazil. The second outcome of this research evaluates how fast moving consumer goods companies select and segment their supplier base, and if the current tools used are still valid in this new governance environment.

Submitted by isabela.moljf@hotmail.com (isabela.moljf@hotmail.com) on 2017-07-04T12:03:44Z No. of bitstreams: 1 izakcarlosdasilva.pdf: 4153943 bytes, checksum: 27b4a03970bedafb63e67ab3212b00ee (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-08-08T14:40:59Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 izakcarlosdasilva.pdf: 4153943 bytes, checksum: 27b4a03970bedafb63e67ab3212b00ee (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-08T14:40:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 izakcarlosdasilva.pdf: 4153943 bytes, checksum: 27b4a03970bedafb63e67ab3212b00ee (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-23 / O objetivo do presente trabalho constituiu-se em analisar o comportamento das cadeias agroindustriais de valor, definidas com base na extração hipotética do setor de Agricultura, Floresta, Caça e Pesca (1), no que se refere a dinâmica da integração produtiva, mimetizada pela taxa de conteúdo doméstico nas exportações e os seus desdobramentos sobre dinamismo econômico, a produtividade e as especializações de cada país. Os resultados indicaram a existência de um processo de dispersão concentrada, em que os elos das cadeias produtivas dos setores agroindustriais estão dispersos ao redor do mundo, porém concentrados de acordo com características específicas, como elevada integração e vantagens locacionais. Além disso, os resultados indicaram uma dicotomia entre elevado acoplamento às Cadeias Globais de Valor e a presença de vantagens locacionais, fatores os quais, raramente, ocorrem simultaneamente. Para o Brasil, especificamente, notou-se desintegração longitudinal relativa às Cadeias Agroindustriais de Valor, com redução das vantagens locacionais e redução relativa nos diferencias de produtividade. / The objective of the present study was to analyze the behavior of agroindustrial chains of value, defined based on the hypothetical extraction of the Agriculture, Forest, Hunting and Fishing sector (1), regarding the dynamics of productive integration, Rate of domestic con-tent in exports and its effects on the economic dynamism, productivity and specializations of each country. The results indicated the existence of a concentrated dispersion process, where the links of the productive chains of the agroindustrial sectors are dispersed around the world, but concentrated according to specific characteristics, such as high integration and locational advantages. In addition, the results indicated a dichotomy between high coupling to the Global Value Chains and the presence of locational advantages, factors that rarely occur simultaneously. For Brazil, specifically, there was a longitudinal disintegration relative to Agroindustrial Chains of Value, with reduction of locational advantages and relative reduction in productivity differences.

Le travail de recherche présenté dans cette thèse est né de la confrontation entre la littérature récente sur la transformation structurelle et la littérature portant sur les chaînes de valeur globales. Alors que la transformation productive est analysée par le prisme des transformations des exportations, la fragmentation mondiale des productions rend cette approche problématique. En effet, il peut y avoir une rupture entre le contenu factoriel des exportations et les dotations factorielles des économies, impliquant que la modernisation des exportations ne peut être qu’« illusoire ». Notre démarche vise alors à comprendre la nature complexe et multidimensionnelle de la transformation structurelle dans le contexte actuel, et d’en étudier des déterminants innovants. Nous définissons tout d’abord une transformation structurelle « soutenable » que nous caractérisons à partir d’indicateurs agrégés. Puis, l’étude des déterminants révèle des risques d’ « hyper-spécialisation » associés à l’industrialisation, notamment dans les secteurs du textile et de l’électronique. Nous montrons par ailleurs que la non-conformité aux dotations factorielles permet la diversification vers des exportations modernes. Cette transformation est cependant superficielle, et ce d’autant plus qu’elle s’accompagne d’IDE. Nous identifions également une relation causale positive entre les IDE et l’intensité factorielle des exportations, alors qu’elle est négative avec les dotations factorielles domestiques. La sophistication des exportations dépendrait donc davantage des IDE que de l’accumulation de capabilités. Il apparait donc indispensable dans une approche par les exportations de la transformation structurelle, d’intégrer la dimension de soutenabilité. / The analysis we present in this dissertation emerges from a confrontation of the recent literature on structural change and the literature on global value chains. Productive transformation is almost exclusively analysed through exports transformation. However, the international fragmentation of production makes this export-based approach hazardous. The potential gap between factor content of exports and countries’ factor endowments imply that exports modernization may only be an illusion. We address the complex and multidimensional nature of structural change given the current economic context and we examine innovative determinants of structural transformation. We develop the idea of a sustainable structural transformation that we describe through aggregate indicators. The analysis of the determinants through descriptive and econometric methods reveals risks of lock-in situations as well as risks of immiserising specialisation in the industrialization process, specifically in the textile and electronic sectors. We also find that defying factor endowments encourages diversification towards sophisticated exports. However this transformation is unsustainable especially when countries are major FDI recipients. We show that FDI positively influences factor content of exports while they have a negative impact on factor endowments. Thus, a productive transformation generated through FDI does not imply factor accumulation. Finally, export sophistication seems to rely more on FDI rather than on capabilities accumulation, meaning that the sustainability dimension is essential in an export-based approach of structural transformation.

The thesis aims to assess the relations between China and ASEAN and their influence on regional stability and prosperity of ASEAN. The main focus of this thesis is the dynamics of trade relations, including the countries involvement in global value chains. The thesis covers trade in goods, services, cooperation in strategic areas and foreign direct investment.

Today, different parts of a value chain operate in different places, different firms may hold ranges of brands with different national heritages, and leaders, shareholders and customers are widely spread across the world. Policy makers are facing new challenges as national borders define less and less of corporate thinking. In this paper, we argue that there is a need to find a new way of how to understand the relationship between business and nation-states. The theoretical framework was constructed by breaking down the concept of national identity of companies. We found four different aspects that we argue can connect business to nations, and in the empirical study, our ambition is to test this framework. By conducting the study using qualitative content analysis, we aim to answer the research question of if it possible to understand the national identity of companies through different aspects of business, and if so, how this is reflected in the national trade policies of four countries. Our results showed that by looking beyond the traditional view of national identity of companies, policy makers have three important factors to take into regards when considering their relations to business; location, culture and contribution.

Garment sector trade unions have proved largely powerless to combat hypermobile transnational capital’s systematic extraction of surplus value from the newly industrialized Global South. Optimized conditions for accumulation coupled with the 2005 phase-out of the Multi-Fibre Agreement (MFA) have meant a radical geographic reconfiguration of the globalised garment industry heavily in favour of capital over labour. The thesis approaches the global garment sector from multiple vantage points across the world with the goal of uncovering the obstacles to workers' organisation, examine workers' strategies of resistance, and analyse the changing composition of labour and capital within the clothing commodity chain. The thesis highlights five distinct but interconnected case studies including a transnational workers campaign from a garment factory in Honduras; a history and present-day feasibility of establishing a transnational collective bargaining from El Salvador to Turkey to Cambodia; the prospects for a countermovement in the organizing strategies at the bottom of the clothing commodity and supply chain in Bangalore; the growth of a 'full package' denim manufacturer in changing the relationship between 'buyers' and 'suppliers' on the outskirts of Bangalore; and finally a continuation of this analysis the case of a strike at a monopoly footwear supplier in China. The central research question is: How do workers build power and establish workers' rights in the globally hypermobile garment sector? Ultimately, what is demonstrated within this thesis is that the actions of garment workers shaped and circumscribed the actions of capital in the sector, and as capital transformed new landscapes for accumulation new vistas for opposition begin to emerge.