TY - JOUR
T1 - Are Multinationals and Governments from Emerging Economies Configuring Global Value Chains in New Ways?
AU - Alvstam, Claes
AU - Ivarsson, Inge
AU - Petersen, Bent
N1 - Published online: 7. March 2019
PY - 2019/3/7
Y1 - 2019/3/7
N2 - Purpose: The hallmark of today’s global value chains (GVCs), still dominated by multinationals from advanced economies, is a sophisticated international division of labor based on scale economies and prevailing factor endowment differences between countries. However, GVCs led bymultinationals from large emerging economies may be configured on the basis of considerations that supplement factor cost efficiencies, namely, those of societal objectives as formulated by political actors in the home country. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to examine the implications of political and socio-economic factors on GVC configuration of multinational firms.Design/methodology/approach: This paper provides an in-depth case study of a leading Chinese car manufacturer, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (ZGH) and its value-chain configuration, with a special focus on the acquisition of Volvo Car Corporation. Findings: The authors show how ZGH’sconfiguration of its GVC, including that of acquired Volvo Car Corporation, takes place in symbiosis with political actors. The advantages and disadvantages of this symbiosis are highlighted. Research limitations/implications: The study focuses on GVC configuration of one company, ZGH, in one industry, the automotive industry, in one emerging economy. The external validity of the study may therefore be limited. Furthermore, the focus is on the geographical/locational configuration of GVCs and ignores the ownership aspects. Originality/value: The paper provides novel empirical evidence to better understand GVC configuration of multinational firms from emerging economies.
AB - Purpose: The hallmark of today’s global value chains (GVCs), still dominated by multinationals from advanced economies, is a sophisticated international division of labor based on scale economies and prevailing factor endowment differences between countries. However, GVCs led bymultinationals from large emerging economies may be configured on the basis of considerations that supplement factor cost efficiencies, namely, those of societal objectives as formulated by political actors in the home country. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to examine the implications of political and socio-economic factors on GVC configuration of multinational firms.Design/methodology/approach: This paper provides an in-depth case study of a leading Chinese car manufacturer, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (ZGH) and its value-chain configuration, with a special focus on the acquisition of Volvo Car Corporation. Findings: The authors show how ZGH’sconfiguration of its GVC, including that of acquired Volvo Car Corporation, takes place in symbiosis with political actors. The advantages and disadvantages of this symbiosis are highlighted. Research limitations/implications: The study focuses on GVC configuration of one company, ZGH, in one industry, the automotive industry, in one emerging economy. The external validity of the study may therefore be limited. Furthermore, the focus is on the geographical/locational configuration of GVCs and ignores the ownership aspects. Originality/value: The paper provides novel empirical evidence to better understand GVC configuration of multinational firms from emerging economies.
KW - China
KW - Automotive industry
KW - Emerging economy multinational
KW - Global value-chain configuration
KW - Political embeddedness
KW - China
KW - Automotive industry
KW - Emerging economy multinational
KW - Global value-chain configuration
KW - Political embeddedness
UR - https://sfx-45cbs.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/45cbs?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info:sid/sfxit.com:azlist&sfx.ignore_date_threshold=1&rft.object_id=1000000000210598&rft.object_portfolio_id=&svc.holdings=yes&svc.fulltext=yes
U2 - 10.1108/IJOEM-02-2017-0055
DO - 10.1108/IJOEM-02-2017-0055
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85062859003
VL - 15
SP - 111
EP - 130
JO - International Journal of Emerging Markets
JF - International Journal of Emerging Markets
SN - 1746-8809
IS - 1
ER -