Theories of nationalism cannot account for a Liechtensteiner nation. This tiny nation positioned in the heart of Europe is a medieval relic that has survived through the modern era, and this paper seeks to answer why, against all odds, this nation exists. It also shows how theories of...

Adopting a critical stance towards North's recent theory of institutional change and economic performance, the paper proposes a concept of global efficiency which encompasses not only standard allocative efficiency, but also the efficiency of political institutions in competition among groups. A...

The emergence of integrative trade and global value chains (GVCs) over the past 20 years has changed the competitive landscape in international goods and services markets. Competition in many lines of businesses, particularly in the manufacturing sector, is now taking place more at a value chain...

This research volume is concerned with the causes and consequences of global value chains — the fragmentation of production across firms and international boundaries. Figure 1 provides a schema for thinking about these phenomena. The total value of inputs used in producing a given level of...

What forces have driven international fragmentation of production in recent decades? Perhaps technological innovations in information technology have allowed the coordination of integrated production processes that are separated by vast distances. Perhaps reductions in transportation costs,...

“Companies no longer compete – Value Chains Compete” (Murphy, 2007, p.11)In the past few years, a fairly substantial literature has emerged addressing the phenomenon of global value chains (GVCs). While one can find various definitions of GVCs, the simple concept proposed by Lunati (2007)...