Dies ist ein Gastbeitrag von Donatella Alessandrini. Er ist Teil des Symposiums „Constitutions of Value“ (Projekt 03) und wurde zuvor auf dem Verfassungsblog veröffentlicht.

Various reports published by International Economic Institutions, including the World Trade Organisation (WTO), stress the significance of Global Value Chains (GVCs) for development. The common claim they make is that, although GVCs have existed for a long time, the level and intensity of global interaction is rapidly changing, and so is the nature of trade. Whereas ‘classic’ international trade consisted of the exchange of goods manufactured for the most part within national borders, production today increasingly entails intermediate goods and services (parts, components and tasks) that originate from different parts of the world. According to the narrative of these reports,  ‘development’ today requires the ability of states to create a regulatory environment that enables efficient companies to ‘technologically upgrade’ and insert themselves in GVCs so as to add value and consequently reap a greater share of revenues. As development is equated with greater value-capture, ‘developing countries’ are expected to adopt a new set of rules to facilitate and expand value chain trade. Referred to as ‘WTO plus and extra’ provisions because they go well beyond current liberalization commitments and extend to areas not covered by the Organization, these rules strengthen the protection of investors’ rights, particularly their intangible rights, and enhance the free movement of capital. Weiterlesen →