經(jīng)濟金融企業(yè)管理外文翻譯外文文獻英文文獻

1、經(jīng)濟金融企業(yè)管理外文翻譯外文文獻英文文獻repared on 22 November 2020【原文】Upgrading in Global Value ChainsThe aim of this paper is to explore how small- and medium-sized Latin American enterprises ( SMEs) may participate in global markets in a way that provides for sustainable growth. This may be defined as the “higlu,oad

2、'' to competitiveness, contrasting with the "low load' typical of films from developing countries, wliich often compete by squeezing wages and profit margins rather than by improving productivity, wages, and profits. The key difference between the high and the low road to competitiv

3、eness is often explained by the different capabilities of firms to "upgrade.' Ill this paper, upgrading refers to the capacity of a firm to innovate to increase the value added of its products and processes (Humphrey & Schmitz, 2002a; Kaplinsky&Readman, 2001; Porter, 1990).Capitaliz

4、ing on one of the most productive areas of the recent literature on SMEs, we restrict our field of research to small enterprises located in clusters. There is now a wealth ofempirical evidence (Humphrey, 1995; Nadvi &Schmitz, 1999; Rabellotti, 1997) showing that small firms in clusters, both in

5、developed and developing countries, are able to over come some of the major constraints they usually face: lack of specialized skills, difficult access to technology, inputs, market, information, credit, and external services.Nevertheless, the literature on clusters, mainly focused on the local sour

6、ces ofcompetitiveness coming from intrackister vertical and horizontal relationshipsgenerating "collective efficiency''(Schmitz, 1995), has often neglected theincreasing importance of external link ages. Due to recentchanges in productionsystems, distribution channels, and financial mar

7、kets, and to the spread of informationtechnologies, enterprises and clusters are increasingly integrated in value chains thatoften operate across many different countries. The literature on global value chains(GVCs) (Gereffi, 1999; Gereffi& Kaplinsky, 2001) calls attention to the opportunitiesfo

8、r local producers to learn from the global leaders of the chains that may be buyers orproducers. The internal governance of the value chain has an important effect on the scope of local finns* upgi ading (Humphrey& Schmitz, 2000).Indeed, extensive evidence on Latin America reveals that both the

9、local and the global dimensions matter, and firms often participate in clusters as well as in value chains (Pietrobelli& Rabellotti, 2004). Both forms of organization offer opportunities to foster competitiveness via learning and upgrading. However, they also have remarkable drawbacks, as, for i

10、nstance, upgrading may be limited in some forms of value chains, and clusters with little developed external economies and joint actions may have no influence on competitiveness.Moreover, both strands of literature were conceived and developed to overcome the sectoral dimension in the analysis of in

11、dustrial organization and dynamism. On the one hand, studies on clusters, focusing on agglomerations of firms specializing in different stages of the filie're, moved beyond the traditional units of analysis of industrial economics: the firm and the sector. On the other hand, according to the val

12、ue chain literature, firms from different sectors may all participate in the same value chain (Gereffi, 1994). Nevertheless, SMEs located in clusters and involved in value chains, may undertake a process of upgrading in order to increase and improve their participation in the global economy, especia

13、lly as the industrial sector plays a role and affects the upgrading prospects of SMEs.The contribution this paper makes is by taking into account all of these dimensions together. Thus, within this general theoretical background, this study aims to investigate the hypothesis that enterprise upgradin

14、g is simultaneously affected by firm- specific efforts and actions, and by the environment in which firms operate. The latter is crucially shaped by three characteristics: (i) the collective efficiency of the cluster in which SMEs operate, (ii) the pattern of governance of the value chain in which S

15、MEs participate, and (iii) the peculiar features that characterize learning and innovation patterns in specific sectors.The structure of the paper is the following: in Section 2, we briefly review the concepts of clustering and value chains, and focus on their overlaps and complementarities. Section

16、 3 first discusses the notion of SMEs' upgrading and then introduces a categorization of groups of sectors, based on the notions underlying the Pavitt taxonomy, and applied to the present economic reality of Latin America. Section 4reports the original empirical evidence on a large sample of Lat

17、in American clusters, and shows that the sectoral dimension matters to explain why clustering and participating in global value chains offer different opportunities for upgrading in different groups of sectors. Section5 summarizes and concludes.2. CLUSTERS AND VALUE CHAINSDuring the last two decades

18、, the successful performance of industrial districts in the developed world, particularly in Italy, has stimulated new attention to the potential offered by this form of industrial organization for firms of developing countries. The capability of clustered firms to be economically viable and grow ha

19、s attracted a great deal of interest in development studies. 1In developing countries, the sectoral and geographical concentration of SMEs is rather common, and a wide range of cases has since been reported. 2 Obviously, the existence of acritical mass of specialized and agglomerated activities, in

20、a number of cases with historically strong roots, does not necessarily imply that these clusters share all the stylized facts which identify the Marshall type of district, as firstly defined by Becattini (1987). 3 Nonetheless, clustering may be considered as a major facilitating factor for a number

21、of subsequent developments (which may or may not occur): division and specialization of labor, the emergence of a wide network of suppliers, the appearance of agents who sell to distant national and international markets, the emergence of specialized producer sendees, the materialization of a pool o

22、f specialized and skilled workers, and the formation of business associations.To capture the positive impacts of these factors on the competitiveness of firms located in clusters, Schmitz (1995) introduced the concept of "collective efficiency'' (CE) defined as the competitive advantage

23、 derived from local external economies and joint action. The concept of external economies 4 was first introduced by Marshall in his Principles of Economics( 1920). According to Schmitz (1999a), incidental external economies (EE) are of importance in explaining the competitiveness of industrial clus

24、ters, but there is also a deliberate force at work: consciously pursued joint action3(JA).Such joint action can be within vertical or horizontal linkages. 5The combination of both incidental external economies and the effects of active cooperation defines the degree of collective efficiency of a clu

25、ster and, dynamically, its potential for fostering SMEs' upgiading. Both dimensions are cmcial: Only incidental, passive external economies may not suffice without joint actions, and the latter hardly develop in the absence of external economies. Thus, our focus is on the role of intracluster ve

26、rtical and horizontal relationships generating collective efficiency.However, recent changes in production systems, distribution channels and financial markets, accelerated by the globalization of product markets and the spread of information technologies, suggest that more attention needs to be pai

27、d to external linkages. 6 Gereffi's global value chain approach (Gereffi, 1999) helps us to take into account activities taking place outside the cluster and, in particular, to understand the strategic role of the relationships with key external actors.From an analytical point of view, the value

28、 chain perspective is useful because (Kaplinsky,2001; Wood, 2001) the focus moves from manufacturing only to the other activities involved in the supply of goods and services, including distribution and marketing. All these activities contribute to add value. Moreover, the ability to identify the ac

29、tivities providing higher returns along the value chain is key to understanding the global appropriation of the returns to production.Value chain research focuses on the nature of the relationships among the various actors involved in the chain, and on their implications for development (Humphrey &a

30、mp; Schmitz, 2002b), To study these relationsliips, the concept of "governance'' is ceiitial to the analysis.At any point in the chain, some degree of governance or coordination is required in order to take decisions not only on "what" should be, or "how" something s

31、hould be, produced but sometimes also "when,'' "how much,“ and even "at what price.'' Coordination may occur through arm's-length market relations or non market relationships. In the latter case, following Humphrey and Schmitz (2000), we distinguish three possible

32、types of governance:(a) network implying cooperation4between firms of more or less equal power which share their competencies within the chain; (b) quasi-hierarchy involving relationships between legally independent firms in which one is subordinated to the other, with a leader in the chain defining

33、 the rules to which the rest of the actors have to comply; and (c) hierarchy when a firm is owned by an external firm.Also stressed is the role played by GVC leaders, particularly by the buyers, in transferring knowledge along the chains. For small firms in less developed countries (LDCs), participa

34、tion in value chains is a way to obtain information on the need and mode to gain access to global markets. Yet, although this information has high value for local SMEs, the role played by the leaders of GVCs in fostering and supporting the SMEs' upgrading process is less clear. Gereffi (1999), m

35、ainly focusing on East Asia, assumes a rather optimistic view, emphasizing the role of the leaders that almost automatically promote process, product, and functional upgrading among small local producers. Pietrobelli and Rabellotti (2004) present a more differentiated picture for Latin America.In li

36、ne with the present approach, Humphrey and Schmitz (2000) discuss the prospects of upgrading with respect to the pattern of value chain governance. They conclude that insertion in a quasi-hierarchical chain offers very favorable conditions for process and product upgrading, but hinders functional up

37、grading. Networks offer ideal upgrading conditions, but they are the least likely to occur for developing country producers. In addition, a more dynamic approach suggests that chain governance is not given forever and may change because(Humphrey & Schmitz, 2002b): (a) power relationships may evo

38、lve when existing producers, or their spin offs, acquire new capabilities;(b) establishing and maintaining quasi-hierarchical governance is costly for the lead firm and leads to inflexibility because of transaction specific investments; and (c) firms and cluster soften do not operate only in one cha

39、in but simultaneously in several types of chains, and they may apply competencies learned in one chain to supply other chains.In sum, both modes of organizing production, that is, the cluster and the value chain, offer interesting opportunities for the upgrading and modernization of local5firms, and

40、 are not mutually exclusive alternatives. However, in order to assess their potential contribution to local SMEs' innovation and upgrading, we need to understand their organization of inter firm linkages and their internal governance. Furthermore, as we explain in the following section, the natu

41、re of their dominant specialization also plays a role and affects SMEs' upgrading prospects.3. THE SECTORAL DIMENSION OFSMEs' UPGRADING(a) The concept of upgradingThe concept of upgradingmaking better products, making them more efficiently, or moving in to more skilled activitieshas often be

42、en used in studies on competitiveness (Kaplinsky,2001; Porter, 1990), and is relevant here.Following this approach, upgrading is decisively related to innovation. Here we define upgrading as innovating to increase value added. 7 Enterprises achieve this in various ways, such as, for example, by ente

43、ring higher unit value market niches or new sectors, or by undertaking new productive (or service) functions. The concept of upgrading may be effectively described for enterprises working within a value chain, where four types of upgrading are singled out (Humphrey & Schmitz, 2000):Process upgra

44、ding is transforming inputs into outputs more efficiently by reorganizing the production system or introducing superior technology .，footwear producers in the Sinos Valley; Schmitz, 1999b).Product upgrading is moving into more sophisticated product lines in terms of increased unit values the apparel

45、 commodity chain in Asia upgrading from discount chains to department stores; GereffiJ999).Functional upgrading is acquiring new, superior functions in the chain, such as design or marketing or abandoning existing low-value added functions to focus on higher value added activities .，Torreon's bl

46、ue jeans iiidustiy upgiadiiig from maquila to "Rill-package'' manufacturing; Bair&Gereffi. 2001).Inter sectoral upgrading is applying the competence acquired in a particular function to move into a new sector. For instance, in Taiwan, competence in producing TVs was used to make mon

47、itors and then to move into the computer sector (Guerrieri & Pietrobelli,2004; Humphrey & Schmitz,2002b). In sum, upgrading within a value6chain implies going up on the value ladder, moving away from activities in which competitioiiis of the "low road'' type and entiy bairiers a

48、re low.Our focus on upgiadiiig requiies moving a step forward and away from Ricardo's static concept of "Conipaiative Advantage'' (CA). While CA registers ex-post gaps in relative productivity which determine international trade flows, success in firmlevel upgrading enables the dyna

49、mic acquisition of competitiveness in new market niches, sectors or phases of the productive chain (Lail, 2001; Pietrobelli, 1997). In sum, the logic goes from innovation, to upgrading, to the acquisition of firm-level competitiveness., competitive advantage). 8In this paper, we argue that the conce

50、pt of competitive advantage increasingly matters. In the theory of comparative advantage, what matters is relative productivity, determining different patterns of inter industry specialization. Within such a theoretical approach, with perfectly competitive markets, firms need to target only producti

51、on efficiency. In fact, this is not enough, and competitive advantage is the relevant concept to analyze SMEs' performance because of (i) the existence of fbnns of imperfect competition in domestic and international markets and (ii) the presence of different degrees of (dynamic) externalities in

52、 different subsect or sand stages of the value chain.More specifically, in non perfectly competitive market rents and niches of "extra- normal'' profits often emerge, and this explains the efforts to enter selectively specific segments rather than simply focusing on efficiency improveme

53、nts, regardless of the prevailing productive specialization (as advocated by the theory of CA). Moreover, different stages in the value chain offer different scope for dynamic externalities. Thus, for example, in traditional manufacturing, the stages of design, product innovation, marketing, and dis

54、tribution may all foster competitiveness increases in related activities and sectors. The advantage of functional upgrading is in reducing the fragility and vulnerability of an enterprise's productive specialization. Competition from new entrants，firms from developing countries with lower produc

55、tion costs, crowding out incumbentsis stronger in the manufacturing phases of the value chain than in other more knowledge and organization-intensive phases .，product design7and innovation, chain management, distribution and retail, etc.).Therefbre, functional upgrading may bring about more enduring

56、 and solid competitiveness.For all these reasons, the concept of production efficiency is encompassed withinthe broader concept of competitiveness, and the efforts to upgrade functionally and inter sectorally (and the policies to support these processes) are justified to reap larger rents and extern

57、alities emerging in specific stages of the value chain, market niches, or sectors.An additional element that crucially affects the upgrading prospects of firms and clusters is the sectoral dimension. Insofar as we have defined upgrading as innovating to increase value added, then all the factors inf

58、luencing innovation acquire a new relevance. This dimension is often overlooked in studies on clusters, perhaps due to the fact that most of these studies are not comparative but rather detailed intra industiy case studies.In order to take into account such a sectoral dimension, and the effect this

59、may have on the firms' patteni of innovation and learning, we need to inti'oduce the concept of "tacit knowledge." This notion was first introduced by Polanyi(1967) and then discussed in the context of evolutionary economics by Nelson and Winter(1982). It refers to the evidence tha

60、t some aspects of technological knowledge are well articulated, written down in manuals and papers, and taught. Others are largely tacit, mainly learned through practice and practical examples. In essence, this is knowledge which can be freely used by its owners, but that can not be easily expressed and communicated to anyone else.The tacit component of technological knowledge makes its transfer and application co