New digital technologies or industry 4.0 have come to dominate global discussions of trade competitiveness in recent years, and there is growing interest in their impact on employment and gender issues. Industry 4.0 technologies are seen to offer an opportunity to break gender-bias in employment, primarily by reducing previous technical barriers to female entry into the workforce. This research brief aims to contribute to this knowledge gap by examining how the uptake of these new technologies is and will impact female participation in one of these sectors – large scale mining in Chile. Driven by well-financed, global firms, the Chilean mining sector is well positioned to adopt these technologies and its experience should offer important insights regarding the potential impact on gender. Furthermore, the research brief employs a global value chain (GVC) approach, breaking the industry down into segments and roles to better understand where specific opportunities for using the technology to bring women into this male dominated sector can be found. The findings of this exploratory research indicate that, while female participation in value chains positions is one of the lowest amongst major mining countries (3.8 percent), the changing nature of jobs has created new opportunities for women. Public policy and company strategy must be aligned to break this cycle. Ensuring that the twenty-first century technologies can indeed help reduce the gender gap requires a commitment of leadership in the industry to proactively mainstream gender into the development for the new jobs of the future and in all industrial policy strategies for the developing of mining in the country.
Global value chain (GVC) integration and upgrading have become key goals of trade and investment policy in developing countries. This study seeks to contribute to the gap in the gender and trade debate by analyzing the gender implications of, and impacts on trade and competitiveness in, a single high value manufacturing sector, medical devices. The medical devices industry offers an interesting example of a high-tech and high-value manufacturing sector. It is characterized by strong and growing global demand as populations age and healthcare expenditure expands. This study utilizes a gendered GVC framework to analyze the dynamics of female participation in two emerging countries in the industry: Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. Three key questions are addressed: (1) what is female intensity in the industry and how does it compare to the manufacturing sector as a whole; (2) does female intensity change over time as the sector grows and more technologically sophisticated products are manufactured in a particular location, and (3) do changes in wages as a result of upgrading affect female intensity in different roles within the industry. The study is structured as follows: first, a brief overview of the existing literature on gender and GVC-trade, focusing on the benefits of a gendered GVC approach, followed by a discussion of the methodology used is presented. Second, an overview of the medical device GVC is provided to highlight key global industry characteristics, particularly with respect to the nature of work in the industry. The report examines the experiences of the two countries cases, focusing on each nation’s upgrading trajectory and gender dynamics within the industry.
Duke GVCC’s study into Pakistan’s medical devices industry was sponsored by the World Bank.
This Duke GVCC study on Pakistan’s apparel industry was sponsored by the World Bank in order to understand potential upgrading strategies to enhance the country’s competitiveness in the GVC. It begins by providing an overview of the apparel GVC to present a clear understanding of the scope of the industry, how markets are structured and how changing distribution of demand and supply destinations and lead firm organization alter structural dynamics in the chain. It then analyzes the industry within Pakistan, first detailing the country’s position in the chain by looking at its firm profile, backward linkages, product profile and end markets. The internal organization of the industry is then outlined as well as recent examples of upgrading and the factors that influence the labor environment. After assessing the country’s advantages and constraints, it provides short case studies on Vietnam and Sri Lanka’s experiences in the industry. The report concludes with potential upgrading strategies for the Pakistan in the industry.
This GVCC report first provides an overview of the offshore services GVC to present a clear understanding of the scope of the industry, how markets are structured and how changing distribution of demand and supply destinations alter structural dynamics in the chain. It then analyzes the industry within Pakistan, detailing the country’s position in the global market as well as the internal organization of the industry and the human capital status. After assessing the advantages and constraints observed in Pakistan, it looks to India and Uruguay for comparative case studies, detailing the lessons learned for Pakistan. The report concludes by outlining potential upgrading strategies to enhance the country’s competitiveness in the global market. Across the entire report, focus is placed on the opportunities than Pakistan can leverage in the export market, excluding the domestic market space.
The Duke GVC Center engaged in a number of projects with the World Bank. One involved identifying upgrading opportunities for Pakistan in three industries (2018-19), one on Peru in three key industries (2015/16), and another on three industries in Burundi (2013/14).
The World Bank published several books that feature work on global value chains by Duke GVC Center researchers, such as Stacey Frederick (apparel), Karina Fernandez-Stark (offshore services), Ghada Ahmed (call centers in Egypt), Penny Bamber (horticulture in Honduras), and Michelle Christian (tourism in Kenya). With Olivier Cattaneo and Cornelia Staritz of the World Bank, Gereffi co-edited Global Value Chains in a Post-Crisis World: A Development Perspective (The World Bank, 2010), as well as a special issue of the International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development on “Shifting End Markets and Upgrading Prospects in Global Value Chains” (2011).
Vietnam has emerged as an Asian manufacturing powerhouse, carving out a role for itself within global value chains (GVCs). In this World Bank Group publication, readers will gain a strong understanding of Vietnam’s current and potential engagement with GVCs and learn about strategic policy tools that can help developing countries achieve economic prosperity. Its findings will be of particular interest to policymakers, development practitioners, and academics. Stacey Frederick authored chapter 7 of this publication which covers Vietnam’s textile and apparel industry and trade networks.
Stacey Frederick authored chapters 2 and 5 in this World Bank book on the apparel industry. The book is motivated by South Asia’s need to create more and better jobs for a growing population; it investigates the region’s potential for expanding and improving jobs in the labor-intensive apparel sector. It estimates the effects of rising wages in China on apparel exports, employment, and wages in South Asia, and provides policy recommendations to leverage the sector for greater job creation.
Gary Gereffi’s presentation focuses on the origins of the Global Value Chain (GVC) framework. It clarifies key GVC concepts and methods, including value chain mapping, value chain governance and value chain upgrading. The presentation concludes by examining the medical devices GVC in Costa Rica to show the GVC of a small country in high tech. Gereffi presented this overview at the World Bank Group, Trade & Competitiveness GVC workshop on technical tools and operations in Washington, DC.
