"How important are Global Value Chains for development?", July 1, 2019 

...The draft of the World Development Report (WDR) 2020 – Trading for Developing in the Age of Global Value Chains is now available online for public comment... 

While several GVC reports have been written, the 2020 WDR marks a milestone in the following respects: 

• The report approaches the topic from a development perspective...
• The report showcases and advocates the need for new types of data...
• The report also looks ahead at how new technologies and changing trade policies may affect the prospects for development through GVCs...

All empirical evidence – from cross-country, to sector, to firm-level – supports a picture of GVCs greatly boosting productivity and incomes... But not all our findings are positive. There is strong evidence that the gains from GVC trade are being distributed unequally within and across countries... The draft concludes that GVCs can continue to boost growth, create better jobs and reduce poverty, provided developing countries implement deeper reforms and industrialized countries pursue open, inclusive, and predictable policies...

Please do share your views... preferably by the end of July. The team will continue to work on the draft through the summer and we welcome all input. The final Report will be published in October.