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Technology, global value chains and functional specialisation in Europe

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journal contribution
posted on 2025-04-14, 14:37 authored by F Bontadini, R Evangelista, V Meliciani, Maria SavonaMaria Savona
This paper provides empirical evidence on the role of technology in affecting the relationship between the participation of EU countries and industries in Global Value Chains (GVCs) and their employment structure over the period 2000–2014. The empirical analysis is based on country-sector level data for 21 EU countries on employment, trade in value added, patents and investments in intangible assets, and focusses on backward linkages within GVCs. The role of technology is analysed by taking into account both the technological intensity of country-sectors participating in GVC and that of their GVC partners. We study the employment structure by looking at the shares of managers and manual workers, which reflect the “functional specialisation” of the country-sector within GVCs. We find that participation in GVC per se is not related to the employment structure of a country-sector. We show that different patterns of GVC integration and functional specialisation emerge that depend on the initial patents/intangibles intensity of the country-sector integrating in GVC and those of the partners.

Funding

Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy : ESRC-ECONOMIC & SOCIAL RESEARCH COUNCIL | ES/W002434/1

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Research Policy

ISSN

0048-7333

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Issue

2

Volume

53

Article number

104908

Department affiliated with

  • SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit Publications
  • Business and Management Publications

Institution

University of Sussex

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes