Technology, global value chains and functional specialisation in Europe

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Research policy 2024-03, Vol.53 (2), p.104908, Article 104908
Main Authors: Bontadini, Filippo, Evangelista, Rinaldo, Meliciani, Valentina, Savona, Maria
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Employment
Functional specialisation
Global value chains
Intangible assets
Technology
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Summary: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. •We study technological capabilities of country-industries in global value chains, and those of their backward-linked partners.•We study the relationship between GVC participation and functional specialisation.•We put forward a novel measure of the technological quality of GVC participation.•Functional specialisation has remained rather persistent, despite a strong GVC integration across the region.•Pre-existing technological capabilities and those of backward-linked partners matter for functional specialisation.
ISSN:0048-7333
1873-7625
DOI:10.1016/j.respol.2023.104908