This thesis investigates the development of capabilities by incumbent telecommunications operators in the context of the transition to the Next Generation Network (NGN). In particular, it examines the case of BT in the UK, as a large-scale first mover in this transition. The research is based on recent developments in the telecommunications industry, and the empirical evidence was obtained through documentary analysis and a large number of interviews. Using the resource-based view (RBV) as a foundation, the wider theoretical contribution of this thesis lies in the proposition that integrated solutions are constructed through the combination of platform strategy, project business and service innovation. A unique contribution is to consider the customer/user perspective, as the traditional literature on integrated solutions relies heavily on the supplier perspective. Another specific contribution is in the integration of two aspects of the platform strategy that are usually treated separately in the literature: (i) the reusability of components and subsystems; and (ii) the openness of the platform to external actors in order to drive innovation in the industry. The empirical evidence points to the development of the following approaches by BT: (i) the deployment of the network as a platform, integrating both aspects mentioned above; (ii) the adoption of a customer-centric approach which resulted in the establishment of a new business unit, BT Global Services (BTGS), that required the development of stronger capabilities in integrated solutions, especially in professional services (i.e. consultancy, project management and systems integration); (iii) the use of the term ‘open innovation' as a management injunction within BT in order to coordinate several initiatives which bring together internal and external collaborators and resources to innovate in services. The above approaches, however, have not changed BT's core capability in the provision of network/infrastructure services. The challenge is to connect BT's platform to their customers' networks and to shape long-term relationships to enhance the profitability of the integrated solutions. Finally, the findings suggest that the platform and customercentric strategies may not be enough (or even be the right ones) for the survival and growth in the long-term future of BT in the telecommunications industry. This is evidenced by the recent failure (as of 2008) of BTGS to provide professional services profitably.

The conditions under which social upgrading, i.e., the process of improvements in the rights and entitlements of workers as social actors by enhancing the quality of their employment, takes place in global production networks [GPNs] have not been sufficiently explored. This research addresses the following research questions: how is social upgrading defined? Under which conditions does social upgrading occur? How does economic upgrading influence social upgrading? How does the local and global social and institutional context influence social upgrading opportunities? First, the thesis establishes a definition and categorisation of social upgrading. Then, it answers these questions by analysing the empirical case study of the garment industry in Morocco. The analysis of key informant interviews, semi-structured interviews with factory managers and focus group discussions with workers shows that participation in GPNs can deliver opportunities as well as challenges for developing country workers. The main argument and contribution of the thesis to the existing literature is that the attainment of social upgrading is hindered by the tension existing between commercial embeddedness and social embeddedness of GPNs. All actors in GPNs find themselves caught in between commercial dynamics and the subsequent need for competitiveness, and the need of considering workers as social agents with rights. In particular, supplier firms in developing countries have to respond to international buyers' pressures to lower costs, increase quality and productivity, as well as deliver products on short notice and with great flexibility. At the same time, they have to comply to labour standards set by national and international regulations and by private buyers' codes of conduct. These pressures are contradictory and create a critical dilemma for suppliers. Struggling to reconcile buyers' requirements and faced with this tension, they attempt to mitigate it by employing two types of workers: regular workers who guarantee high quality and continuity, and are the recipient of social upgrading; and irregular workers, who ensure low costs and a high degree of flexibility, and are largely excluded from social upgrading opportunities and are often socially downgraded. Therefore, participation in GPNs delivers a mix of social upgrading and downgrading depending on the type of worker under consideration.

This thesis is composed of three empirical essays that analyse different development and labour economics issues about Mexico and its emigrant population residing in the United States. The first essay examines the role of occupational segregation in explaining the low wages among first, second and third generation Mexican immigrants in the United States. Mexican-Americans earn lower wages than blacks mainly because they possess less human capital. With respect to whites, their lower wages are also a product of their smaller rewards for skills and underrepresentation at the top of the occupational structure. Occupational segregation constitutes an important part of the wage gap between natives and Mexican-born immigrants. For subsequent generations, the contribution of occupational segregation to the wage gap varies significantly between groups and according to the decomposition used. The second essay examines whether Seguro Popular, a free-of-charge publicly provided health insurance program for otherwise uninsured households, crowded-out private transfers in Mexico. Using data from the National Household Income and Expenditure Survey, the effects of Seguro Popular are identified using the spatial variation in the program's coverage induced by its sequential roll-out throughout Mexico. The results show that Seguro Popular reduced on average a household's probability of receiving private transfers by 5.55 percentage points. This finding appears to be driven by domestic private transfers, since the program's effects are only statistically significant for private transfers originating within Mexico. In addition, Seguro Popular had a weak and not statistically significant negative effect on the amount of private transfers received. Failure to take into account possible changes in private behaviour induced by Seguro Popular may overstate the program's potential benefits or distributional impacts. Finally, the third essay studies the effect of students' exposure to violent crimes on educational outcomes. Driven by drug-trade related crimes, homicide levels in Mexico have dramatically increased since 2007. Using school level data, a panel of Mexico's primary and secondary schools from 2006 to 2012 is constructed to analyse the effect of exposure to homicides on standardised test scores and grade failure rates. The results show that a one-unit increase in the number of homicides per 10,000 inhabitants reduces average test scores between 0.0035 and 0.0142 standard deviations. This effect is larger in secondary schools, stronger if the homicide occurs closer to the examination date, and is stable when using either total homicides or drug-trade related homicides to measure crime. Higher homicides rates are also associated with an increase in the grade failure rate. Early exposure to homicides has potential long-term consequences since it may affect educational attainment levels and future income streams.

This study is about the consequences of feminised migration on migrant women workers, on their families and on the Philippine society as a whole. The continued dependence on migration and increasingly, women‘s migration, by the Philippine government to address unemployment on one hand, and by the Filipino families on the other hand, to secure employment and a better life, has led to social change: change in migrant women‘s sense of identity and personhood; restructuring of households and redefinition of families and gender relations and the rise of a culture of migration. To understand these social changes, the study focuses on the return phase of migration situated within the overall migration process and adopts a gendered and feminist approach. Existing theories of return migration cannot adequately capture the meanings of the return of migrant women workers. Studying return through a gendered approach allows us to reflect on the extent migration goals have been achieved or not, the conditions under which return takes place for a migrant woman worker and various factors affecting life after migration for the migrant women and their families. Return of the women migrant workers cannot be neatly categorised as voluntary or involuntary. It is gendered. It is involuntary, voluntary, and mainly ambivalent. Involuntary return was influenced by structural limitations arising from the temporary and contractual type of migration in jobs categorised as unskilled. Voluntary return was mainly determined by the achievement of migration goals, the psychological need to return after prolonged absence and by the need to respond to concerns of families left behind. Ambivalent return was caused by the desire to maintain the status, economic power, freedom and autonomy stemming from the migrants' breadwinning role; the need to sustain the families‘ standard of living; as well as the apprehensions of a materially insecure life back home. The socio-psychological consequences on families and children of migrant women are deep and wide-ranging. Similarly, women migrants, though empowered at a certain level, had to face psychological and emotional consequences upon return influenced by persistent gender roles and gender regimes. By analysing the impact of gendered migration and return on the societal level, the study has broadened and deepened the conceptualisation of the phenomenon of culture of migration by bringing other elements and factors such as the role of the state, human resources, sustainable livelihood, national identity and governance.