Dara Leyden

Thesis title:

The struggle for upgrading: A study of electronics global value chains in Thailand.

Abstract:

Global Value Chains (GVCs) have grown rapidly since 1990 to account for over half of world trade by 2008. GVCs are defined as stages of production that span across borders, whereby ‘upgrading’ entails moving to higher-value stages of production. Because developing countries participate heavily in GVCs, development policymaking has grown to be dominated by GVC frameworks. This project studies the underlying processes of industrial and social upgrading within GVCs, by analysing the electronics industry in Thailand, which is judged by the World Bank to have recently upgraded to ‘Advanced Manufacturing and Services’. Thailand’s new development model targets further upgrading within electronics GVCs in pursuit of inclusive development. The study will assess whether industrial upgrading and social upgrading has occurred, and how, by analysing the connections between them.

Social Media:

Linkedin – www.linkedin.com/in/dara-leyden
Twitter – @daraleyden

Supervisors:

Professor Liam Campling and Professor Adrian Smith

Pathway:

5 – Work, Organisations & Business Management

Cohort:

2020-21

Publications:

https://mondediplo.com/outsidein/world-bank-report

Selwyn, B. & Leyden, D. (2021) Oligopoly-driven development: The World Bank’s Trading for development in the Age of Global Value Chains in perspective. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1024529421995351