Innovation trajectories in developing countries: Co-evolution of global value chains and innovation systems

Abstract

This article investigates how combining global value chain and innovation system approaches can help to foster an understanding of the possible trajectories that learning and innovation may take in developing countries. Based on the wealth of empirical evidence collected in the special issue, we introduce the notion of the co-evolution of global value chains and innovation systems and outline a framework for investigating the interaction between the two in a dynamic perspective with multiple trajectories. We find that, in some cases, there is an improvement in local innovation capabilities with potentially positive effects on overall competitiveness, while in others there is little progress or even a loss of previous innovation capacity.