Dallas Mark P, Horner Rory, Li Lantian
Department of Political Science & Asian Studies, Union College, Schenectady, NY 12308, USA.
Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
World Dev. 2021 Mar;139:105324. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105324. Epub 2020 Dec 3.
Shortages of critical medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic have turned global value chains (GVCs) in personal protective equipment (PPE) into a political lightning rod. Some blame excessive outsourcing and foreign dependency for causing shortages, thus urging greater state intervention; others applaud GVCs for their flexibility and scaling up of production, while blaming states for undermining GVC operations. Using policy process-tracing and monthly trade data of seven PPE products across the US, Europe, China and Malaysia, this paper goes beyond the binary debate of either the 'failure' or 'success' of GVCs to show when and under what conditions states interacted with GVCs to produce mixed outcomes in provisioning countries with PPEs. We identify interactions between the type of state intervention and two key structural features of GVCs - geographic distribution of production and technological attributes of the product. Conceptually, the paper demonstrates the of states and GVCs, and highlights structural factors involved in the relationship. Looking to the future of GVCs, we caution against wholesale declarations that GVCs should be abandoned or maintained, instead concluding that paying attention to GVC structure, states and their interactions are crucial.
新冠疫情期间关键医疗物资的短缺，使个人防护装备（PPE）的全球价值链（GVC）成为政治避雷针。一些人指责过度外包和对外依赖导致了短缺，从而敦促国家加大干预力度；另一些人则赞扬全球价值链的灵活性和生产规模扩大，同时指责各国破坏全球价值链运作。本文利用政策过程追踪以及美国、欧洲、中国和马来西亚七种个人防护装备产品的月度贸易数据，超越了关于全球价值链“失败”或“成功”的二元辩论，以展示各国在何时以及何种条件下与全球价值链互动，从而在为各国提供个人防护装备方面产生混合结果。我们确定了国家干预类型与全球价值链的两个关键结构特征——生产的地理分布和产品的技术属性——之间的相互作用。从概念上讲，本文展示了国家与全球价值链的相互依存关系，并突出了该关系中涉及的结构因素。展望全球价值链的未来，我们告诫不要一概而论地宣称应抛弃或维持全球价值链，而是得出结论，关注全球价值链结构、国家及其互动至关重要。
