The changing nature of state-business relations and implications for Global Value Chain inclusion
The changing nature of state-business relations and implications for Global Value Chain inclusion
What challenge/opportunity does it seek to address?
A significant amount of global trade is conducted through an integrated system of economic activities (also known as global value chains – GVCs). These arrangements affect value creation, distribution and capture (in the form of surplus) from productive activities, which in turn are influenced by firm capabilities (technological, organisational, marketing etc); relational activity between value chain actors; sector competition; availability or scarcity of factors of production; and policy rents.
This research intends to explore these interactions in East Africa; focusing initially on horticultural value chains in Kenya to understand the implications of these dynamics for development outcomes. It asks, “How have SBRs influenced domestic policy responses to Covid-19 in Kenya? What kinds of (new) institutions and governance mechanisms are emerging as a result of these SBRs? What are the medium-term implications for participation in global (S-S or trilateral) value chains?” The goal is to identify how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced SBRs and value chain dynamics in Kenya, to elucidate how these changing dynamics are likely to influence sustainable development goals and outcomes, and whether these changes are temporary responses to crisis or amount to more significant reconfigurations in GVCs and SBRs. We also aim to derive practical lessons to inform policy with respect to economic development, resilience, and equity.
Research Design: key activities /methodology
To shed light on these questions, we will develop new contextualized evidence on how SBRs are changing with COVID-19 and implications for participation in GVCs, with respect to horticultural value chain(s) in Kenya. We aim to implement this across 1-2 sub-sectors – to be finalized after a secondary review of evidence. With the available funding, we will focus on the development of a conceptual framework and case study on Covid-19, SBRs, and horticulture in Kenya, grounded in literature, secondary data, and key informant interviews. The intention, however, is to set the ground for broader mixed methods approaches in multiple countries/value chains.