TY - JOUR
T1 - Which Way is "Up" in Upgrading?
T2 - Trajectories of Change in the Value Chain for South African Wine
AU - Ponte, Stefano
AU - Ewert, Joachim
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - Global Value Chain (GVC) analysis uses the concept of upgrading to highlight paths for developing country firms to "move up the value chain," usually through the lenses of four categories-product, process, functional, and inter-sectoral upgrading. The implicit normative expectation is that these firms move toward producing higher value-added products and/or take on more sophisticated functions along a value chain. In this article, upgrading is approached more broadly as "reaching a better deal," including a balance between rewards and risk. The case study of South African wine shows that better product quality, improved processes, and some functional upgrading have co-existed with processes of "downgrading," higher risks, and limited rewards, especially in traditional export markets. A reflection on further conceptual development and directions for empirical research is also provided.
AB - Global Value Chain (GVC) analysis uses the concept of upgrading to highlight paths for developing country firms to "move up the value chain," usually through the lenses of four categories-product, process, functional, and inter-sectoral upgrading. The implicit normative expectation is that these firms move toward producing higher value-added products and/or take on more sophisticated functions along a value chain. In this article, upgrading is approached more broadly as "reaching a better deal," including a balance between rewards and risk. The case study of South African wine shows that better product quality, improved processes, and some functional upgrading have co-existed with processes of "downgrading," higher risks, and limited rewards, especially in traditional export markets. A reflection on further conceptual development and directions for empirical research is also provided.
KW - Upgrading
KW - Global Value Chain (GVC) analysis
KW - Wine
KW - South Africa
KW - Upgrading
KW - Global Value Chain (GVC) analysis
KW - Wine
KW - South Africa
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=954921388922
U2 - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2009.03.008
DO - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2009.03.008
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:69349098290
VL - 37
SP - 1637
EP - 1650
JO - World Development
JF - World Development
SN - 0305-750X
IS - 10
ER -