Global Value Chain Governance: Intersections with International Business

The international business (IB) literature has always analyzed multinational enterprises (MNEs) as firms that internalize market transactions across national borders. Over the last few decades, these firms have evolved from vertically integrated organizations to network orchestrators that coordinate geographically dispersed economic activities. In other words, they are the primal actors within global value chains (GVCs). Despite the commonality of their objects of study, the incorporation of GVC research into mainstream IB remains embryonic and fragmented. This review uses the lens of the eclectic paradigm to funnel disconnected strands of the GVC governance literature from multiple disciplines into a coherent framework. Based on a systematic examination of 143 theoretical and empirical studies, we scrutinize the theory, methods and empirical evidence to promote a more structured integration of GVC governance into future IB research.