Skills and Activity Upgrading in Global Value Chains: Trends and Drivers for Asia

Gaaitzen de Vries, Quanrun Chen (), Rana Hasan () and Zhigang Li ()
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Quanrun Chen: University of International Business and Economics
Rana Hasan: Asian Development Bank

No 496, ADB Economics Working Paper Series from Asian Development Bank

Abstract: This paper examines the trends in skill and activity upgrading in global value chains (GVCs) and the drivers of upgrading in Asian economies. It uses the newly constructed ADB Multi-Region Input-Output Tables as well as occupation data on jobs by educational attainment and business activities, namely research and development; production; logistics, sales, and marketing; administration and back-office; and headquarter activities. Our results suggest an ongoing specialization process in high-income Asian countries and in developing member countries (DMCs) toward high-skilled knowledge-intensive activities. The pace of upgrading differs across Asian countries, being more rapid and encompassing in the People’s Republic of China in comparison to other DMCs. We use a structural decomposition method to account for the drivers of the trends observed. In particular, technological change in GVCs that is biased toward knowledge-intensive activities is important in accounting for the trends observed.

Keywords: functional upgrading; global multiregional input–output model; global supply chains; structural decomposition analysis; World Input-Output Database (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D57 F16 F63 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2016-08-30
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-int, nep-sea and nep-tid
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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