Global value chains in international knowledge work: networks, stratifications and labour markets

In this article, I aim to cast light on the arguably indeterminate phenomenon of the global labour market (GLM) by placing the focus on an industry that has sometimes been perceived as epitomizing homogeneity and ‘world flatness’ in its deployment of geographically dispersed knowledge workers, that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inGlobal networks (Oxford) Vol. 20; no. 3; pp. 472 - 488
Main Author HOLLINSHEAD, GRAHAM
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.07.2020
Subjects
Age differences
CITIZENSHIP
Communications technology
Deployment
GLOBAL LABOUR MARKET (GLM)
GLOBAL VALUE CHAIN (GVC)
Homogeneity
Information technology
INTERNATIONAL SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
Knowledge
KNOWLEDGE, LANGUAGE
Labor market
Language attitudes
OUTSOURCING
Software
UKRAINE
Value chain
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Summary:In this article, I aim to cast light on the arguably indeterminate phenomenon of the global labour market (GLM) by placing the focus on an industry that has sometimes been perceived as epitomizing homogeneity and ‘world flatness’ in its deployment of geographically dispersed knowledge workers, that of international software development. Engaging in a sanguine analysis of this industry with reference to an empirical study of outsourcing to Ukraine it is revealed that labour markets servicing ICT (Information and communication technology) are subject to deep, if fluctuating, social stratifications. With reference to the notion of the global value chain (GVC), the significance of factors such as knowledge, language, citizenship and age as labour market differentiators for knowledge work is brought to the fore.
Bibliography:1
GVC analysis focuses on the governance patterns and relational dynamics between lead and supplier firms at the sectoral level. The GVC and its predecessor, the global commodity chain (GCC) focus on the inter‐firm linkages and especially power relations between different actors (Feuerstein 2013). The similar concept of global production network (GPN) concerns the broader set of relations of power, positionality and value capture between all relevant firm and extra firm actors within a network (Thompson 2013). For this study on sourcing in the global software industry, the term GVC will be utilized throughout.
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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content type line 14
ISSN:1470-2266
1471-0374
DOI:10.1111/glob.12253