Resumo

Supplier firms in developing countries can benefit from participation in GVC through economic upgrading. But since some researchers claim that economic development and upgrading in GVCs are not sufficient to improve wages or labor standards, in this article, our aim is to conduct a systematic review of the literature on the relationship between GVCs and social upgrading, principally about the impact of the integration of companies in the chains and the wellbeing of workers of emerging economies (EE).

The research questions: What is the current state of knowledge concerning social upgrading in GVCs? Which themes have been addressed? Which methodologies and theoretical references have been used? The purpose of this study is to present the results of a systematic literature review on social upgrading, a topic of growing interest among scholars of global value chains (GVCs).

Global value chain describes the full range of activities on a global scale that companies and workers carry out from product design to end-use and beyond, which includes R & D, design, production, marketing, distribution and support to the final consumer. However, in the ensuing decades, a growing amount of evidence has shown that integration into global value chains does not always promote upgrading, especially the social upgrading, defined as better wages, conditions, rights, gender equality and economic security.

Literature review of papers published in 16 referred journal indexed in Thompson Reuter’s Web of Science database along the last five years.

One result is that an issue that has raised considerable debate is which forms of governance have the greatest potential to promote social upgrading. Another result is that research appears to predominantly identify negative implications for social upgrading of the integration of firms in GVCs.

In several articles, their content left no room for doubt concerning their inclusion in each category (GVC governance, GVCs’ impact on work conditions and comprehensive reasons). This is the case, for example, of the articles of Barrientos (2014a) which clearly dealt with the issue of women rights. However, in the case of others, the authors could have made different choices.

Barrientos, S., Gereffi, G., & Rossi, A. (2011). Economic and social upgrading in global production networks: A new paradigm for a changing world. International Labour Review, 150(3‐4), 319-340. Milberg, W., & Winkler, D. (2011). Economic and social upgrading in global production networks: Problems of theory and measurement. International Labour Review, 150(3–4), 341–365. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1564-913X.2011.00120.x Rossi, A. (2013). Does economic upgrading lead to social upgrading in global production networks? Evidence from Morocco. World Development, 46, 223-233.