Abstract With the steady growth of global value chains (GVCs), each country’s trade now has a more complex relationship with the international division of labor. We decompose the employment effects of a country’s trade into five components, specifically the labour content (1) in exports, (2)...

Abstract The massive globalization of production led by large firms in industrialized countries, combined with the policy shift in developing countries toward export-oriented growth, has meant that economic development has increasingly become synonymous with “economic upgrading” within...

Abstract Aid for Trade is widely heralded as a success in promoting increased trade by developing countries. Increased trade, however, does not automatically translate into greater prosperity for workers or local communities. In a world characterized by global value chains (GVCs) in which large...

Abstract We adopt a ‘parsimonious’ approach to measuring economic and social upgrading over 1990-2009 in four global value chains – apparel, mobile phones, agrofoods and tourism – based entirely on data published by international institutions. Economic upgrading is defined as a...

Abstract We implement a “parsimonious” and operational approach to measuring economic and social upgrading over 1990-2009 in four global value chains -- apparel, mobile phones, agrofoods and tourism -- based entirely on data published by international institutions. Economic upgrading is...

ESID Research Associate Laura Routley has produced an annotated bibliography as part of ESID's inception phase. This publication offers a starting point for investigating some of ESID research themes, drawing together what is known about the politics of what works, and laying out current...

This paper examines the take up of Political Economic Analysis (PEA) tools and approaches by development agencies. It charts the emergence of PEA, reviews the embryonic literature on this phenomenon and asks whether this approach assists donors and development agencies to comprehend politics and...

Moving beyond the mantra that 'politics matters', a range of conceptual approaches have recently emerged within international development thinking that seek to capture the specific ways in which politics shapes development. This paper critically assesses whether these approaches, including work...

Abstract Global production networks (GPNs) are the norm in many export sectors of developing world economies like India. High-value crops, including horticultural crops and produce, are seen as candidates for exploiting global market opportunities. Indian agriculture and agribusiness are being...

Service-delivery NGOs are often attacked for abandoning the pursuit of 'alternative development' in favour of 'technocratic' and 'depoliticised' forms of development. Yet some commentators argue that these organisations, through their 'technocratic' interventions, can in fact have progressive...