Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: In the literature on Global Value Chains (GVCs), study about sectoral upgrading and its applications in the real world has initially been applied through lead firms. Recent developments have tended to interpret upgrading as taking place through the actions of three key sets of agents: i) lead firms; ii) development agencies; and iii) states. This thesis attempts to advance understanding of upgrading processes in GVCs through an examination of those three upgrading agents in the cocoa industry of Indonesia. Particularly, the thesis addresses the question of how upgrading interventions are approached and applied by the agents, and to delineate the underlying institutional factors that influence each agent. This thesis finds that the upgrading interventions through policies and programs devised by the development agents are highly influenced by underlying institutional interests. Issues of political economy, ideological views and commercial interests strongly shape the activities of upgrading agents, and therefore the development outcomes of these interventions. Furthermore, it is mostly incidental when these interests align with the development interests of smallholder cocoa farmers. The study also found that upgrading interventions tended to perpetuate the dependency of small producers on external supports, especially their relationship with global cocoa buyers as ‘captive’ suppliers. This thesis concludes with the need to explore deeper the institutional settings within which upgrading agents are embedded, and so which influence the decision making processes in the upgrading interventions along the GVC. Successful upgrading, demands attentiveness to the perspective and interests of potential upgrading agents in the chain. This thesis presents an alternative actor-oriented approach to GVC analysis, which it is argued provides a more realistic assessment of upgrading possibilities within developing countries than previous models.
Author: Rafiuddin Palinrungi
Language: English
Subfield: Strategy and Management
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2531757287