Innovation and upgrading in global production networks

Dev Nathan and Sandip Sarkar

Global Development Institute Working Paper Series from GDI, The University of Manchester

Abstract: Abstract This paper deals with the role of innovation in upgrading within global production networks (GPNs). Because of the distribution of production segments across firms and countries, there is also a distribution of production knowledge. The paper looks at some ways of upgrading by developing economy firms – the roles of distributed knowledge, reverse innovation and new types of innovation, based on frugal engineering in emerging economies. Process changes could also be innovation, though, unlike product innovations, they are easily copied and spread. The paper points out the limits of current reverse innovation and also asks whether the separation of manufacturing from design has increased the speed of innovation. Before concluding, the paper looks at innovation in terms of the ‘adjacent possible’ in evolutionary analysis.

Date: 2013
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-ino, nep-knm and nep-net
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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