Upgrading in global value chains : branded beverages from small island developing states

• Main Author: Cooke, Yolande Frances
• Published: University of Manchester 2006
• Subjects: 658.8
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.629640

The purpose of the research is to evaluate industrial upgrading by own-brand beverage firms in the Caribbean. The work analyses how and why the beverage firms have upgraded, compares this with the relevant literature on global value chain (GVC) upgrading and makes policy suggestions. The thesis uses the GVC framework as the lens for understanding process, product and functional upgrading. The work studies nineteen beverage firms located in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Interviews and documentation were the methods used to abstract information from the beverage firms, other firms in the chains and industry informants. The research finds that the GVC framework helps to identify specific drivers of upgrading including naturally occurring and man-made rents. Further, the work extends the empirical literature by discussing different steps within each type of upgrading rather than a trajectory between the types of upgrading, governance patterns based on type of firm ownership and, importantly, how own-brand manufacturers upgrade horizontally by moving production to Developed Countries. Finally, the work makes the contribution that without public-private intervention, upgrading can have damaging consequences on the developing economy.