Bringing social institutions into global value chain analysis: the case of salmon farming in Chile

Global value chain (GVC) analysis has been developed to understand the changing nature of global production and distribution processes, but it has not been widely adopted by sociologists to understand the implications of globalization for work, employment and the levers for upgrading labour conditions. To understand the extent to which insertion in GVCs creates opportunities for the upgrading of labour and skills, it is necessary to consider the influence of national institutions, alongside internationally dispersed relationships between companies in different parts of the value chain. By examining the production of farmed salmon in Chile, the article explores the interactions between national institutions for innovation and skills development and locally based producers’ insertion in the global value chain.