Integrating Global Value Chain with National Innovation Systems approaches: local firms? or Systems? upgrading?

ROBERT, VERÓNICA; PABLO LAVARELLO; DARÍO VÁZQUEZ

Seul

Congreso; Schumpeter society; 2018

Seul University

In the last decades, theapproaches of National Innovation Systems (NIS) and Global Value Chains (GVC) havebeen developed with little dialogue with each other. NIS approach has focusedon learning and technological capabilities accumulation at national level (Freeman,1995; Lundvall, 1992), while the GVC approach studied internationalfragmentation of production at global level (Gereffi,Humphrey & Sturgeon, 2005; Humphrey and Schmitz, 2002).In response to thecurrent global context in which local learning sources are complemented withglobal ones, recently, there were a growing concern among innovation systemstheorist community to combine GVC and NIS frameworks. The result is a varietyof new organizational forms in terms of the link between learning andproduction, which are called by some authors Global Production Networks (Ernst,2002), Global Innovation Systems (Binz & Truffer, 2018) or GlobalInnovation Networks (Barnard & Chaminade, 2011). There were alsointegration attempts of GVC and NIS approaches focused specifically ondeveloping countries (Jurowetzki, Lundvall & Lema, 2015; Pietrobelli andRabellotti, 2011), where technological learning processes are shaped by the imitationand adaptation of external knowledge (Viotti, 2002). Inthis paper, we propose that in the recent integration attempts, the tensionbetween the (global) organizational boundaries of the MNC, and the national space-as loci of learning and generationof technology- has been disregarded in two ways. First, microeconomic upgradingas a main source of learning and innovation is not enough for accountingsystemic learning processes with positive effects on structuralcompetitiveness, as NIS theorists defined it. Second, GVC emerges as a neworganizational form of MNC that pursued global valorization and appropriationof technologies through outsourcing and offshoring of non-core activities.Therefore, any attempt to assimilate interactive learning in the national spaceto a process of microeconomic innovation within the framework of the globalstrategy of the MNCs, specially withoutany institutional mediation at the meso-level, underestimates the systemiccharacter of the processes of technological learning as well as MNC strategies.Both leading to misconception of industrial and technological policy.<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face{font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:roman;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face{font-family:Calibri;panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:swiss;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073786111 1 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-ansi-language:ES-TRAD;}.MsoChpDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-default-props:yes;font-size:11.0pt;mso-ansi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}.MsoPapDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:115%;}size:612.0pt 792.0pt;margin:70.85pt 3.0cm 70.85pt 3.0cm;mso-header-margin:36.0pt;mso-footer-margin:36.0pt;mso-paper-source:0;}div.WordSection1{page:WordSection1;}<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face{font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:roman;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face{font-family:Calibri;panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:swiss;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073786111 1 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-ansi-language:ES-TRAD;}.MsoChpDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-default-props:yes;font-size:11.0pt;mso-ansi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}.MsoPapDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:115%;}size:612.0pt 792.0pt;margin:70.85pt 3.0cm 70.85pt 3.0cm;mso-header-margin:36.0pt;mso-footer-margin:36.0pt;mso-paper-source:0;}div.WordSection1{page:WordSection1;}