After months of extensive collaboration among researchers, we are thrilled to announce the release of three new work packages: WP3, WP4, and WP5. These work packages explore the recent and emerging trends of GVCs and MNEs on Employment & inequality (WP3), Environment (WP4), and Growth, productivity & competitiveness (WP5)
- WP3 analyzes the different impacts of GVCs on regional labor market scenarios and outcomes, such as employment, the composition of the labor force, wages, job quality, and working conditions. Using national and regional data, the report underscores the need for a region-specific approach to address the challenges posed by GVCs. While GVCs boost growth and competitiveness, they also intensify labor market inequalities and threaten job quality in certain regions and sectors. To ensure a fairer distribution of GVC benefits, policies must balance global integration with the need to enhance labor protections and foster innovation.
- WP4 delves into the environmental impacts of GVC reconfiguration, highlighting how reshoring, nearshoring, and green-sourcing strategies can significantly reduce carbon footprints while fostering resilience. With increasingly shortened and regionalized production networks, this shift presents an opportunity to mitigate climate change - especially in key sectors like steel and electronics - while lowering territorial emissions. MNEs are crucial in this transition, yet their environmental practices often vary across subsidiaries.
- WP5 tackles the recent and emerging trends of GVCs and MNEs, exploring how upcoming transformations will shape the geography of global trade. The report indicates that MNEs adopt various resilience strategies, often choosing cost-effective approaches. The impact of nearshoring on regional economic disparities is highlighted. Lastly, it notably examines how digitalization has reshaped GVC dynamics, particularly in the medical device sector where reliance on software and data analytics has grown. Overall, the findings provide insights into the changing landscape of MNEs and GVCs, underscoring the changes in productivity, competitiveness, as well as in firm-level risks and resilience.
These new WPs are valuable tools for developing a comprehensive overview of the evolution of GVCs. Stay tuned as we dive deeper into these findings over the coming weeks!