We compare neoclassical and classical theories of outsourcing. The former is premised on an improved international division of labor and predicts a rise in the return to skill. This contrasts with the classical model, which emphasizes the distribution of income between labor and capital and its...

The general failure of economists to predict the financial crash of 2008 gave rise to a lively and apparently wide-ranging debate over the state of the discipline and the need (if any) for significant reform. But has the actual debate been robust enough to contemplate significant reform, or has...

Most studies of offshoring rely on a 'proportionality assumption' where every sector is assumed to import each material and service input in the same proportion as its economy-wide use. We assess the bias resulting from this assumption. Since Germany collects imported inputs directly, we are...

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 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 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...

This book brings together the work of international economist, labour economists and sociologists in a far-reaching study of global production networks and the challenges they pose for developing country workers. A number of both empirical and theoretical questions are addressed and answers are...