Hubert Schmitz

• PhD
• Professor at Institute of Development Studies

Making the world more sustainable is the biggest challenge of our time. Views on ways forward differ greatly but tend to concur that transformations are urgent. History tells us that there are no single lines of causation: transformations result from a concurrence of multiple changes. Given this challenge of both complexity and urgency, this chapte...

Meeting the climate change targets in the Paris Agreement implies a substantial and rapid acceleration of low-carbon transitions. Combining insights from political science, policy analysis and socio-technical transition studies, this paper addresses the politics of deliberate acceleration by taking stock of emerging examples, mobilizing relevant th...

The future of human life on our planet is influenced increasingly by what goes on in the rising powers. This paper provides a political economy analysis of the climate-relevant policies of China, India, Brazil and South Africa. It shows that alliances play a key role in driving such policies. However, most actors who support such policies have prio...

In the 1970s and 1980s, industrial districts in Europe achieved international competitiveness and attained high employment standards, even though they were based on local small- and medium-sized firms and concentrated on traditional sectors. This makes them of special interest to less-developed countries in the South and East. This paper examines w...

This paper asks what insights the literature provides on divergence versus convergence of innovation paths in Europe and Asia. It contrasts the abundant literature on determinants of innovation paths with the scarcity of studies that are explicitly comparative across countries or continents. Implicit conclusions however emerge from several lines of...

The current technological shift from high to low carbon development coincides with a geographical shift: the rapid expansion of green production and innovation capacity in China and India. This constellation gives rise to the question: to what extent, how and why do the innovation paths in Europe and in Asia differ? The articles in this Special Iss...

Share Link: http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1R6U0B5ARxUXI This paper is concerned with global shifts in innovation power. It shows that Brazil and India are accumulating significant innovation capabilities. Most explanations concentrate on factors within these rising powers. This paper concentrates on explanatory factors which have their origin in t...

This paper is concerned with global shifts in innovation power. It shows that Brazil and India are accumulating significant innovation capabilities. Most explanations concentrate on factors within these rising powers. This paper concentrates on explanatory factors which have their origin in the old powers (Europe and USA). In order to understand th...

This paper reviews the literature for a project which seeks to develop a new Green Growth Diagnostics methodology and apply it to countries in Africa.

The rising powers have become the default movers and shakers in the global economy, including the green economy. This article shows how China has become more powerful in renewable energy and examines the implications for the green transformation. China exerts strong downward pressure on the costs of the transformation but the effects on the speed o...

At the heart of green industrial policy is rent management: government creating and withdrawing opportunities for profitable investment. This paper asks what the key factors are for rent management to succeed. Drawing on a range of literatures the paper first deals with the critical success factors for ‘normal’ rent management and then turns to one...

At the heart of green industrial policy is rent management: government creating and withdrawing opportunities for highly profitable investment. This paper asks what the key factors are for rent management to succeed. Drawing on a range of literatures the paper first deals with the critical success factors for ‘normal’ rent management and then turns...

Despite the large-scale investments of both China and the EU in climate-change mitigation and renewable-energy promotion, the prevailing view on China–EU relations is one of conflict rather than cooperation. In order to evaluate the prospects of cooperation between China and the EU in these policy fields, empirical research has to go beyond simplis...

Despite the large-scale investments of both China and the EU in climate change mitigation and renewable-energy promotion, the prevailing view on China–EU relations is one of conflict rather than cooperation. In order to evaluate the prospects of cooperation between China and the EU in these policy fields, empirical research has to go beyond simplis...

Allowing provinces to find their own way forward was central to Vietnam’s progress in institutional and economic development. This paper examines who drives the economic reform process in the provinces, exploring the role of business, government and the Party. The research shows that in those provinces which are making most progress in economic ref...

China’s economic rise has transformed the global economy in a number of manufacturing industries. This paper investigates whether China’s transformative influence extends to the new green economy. Drawing on the debate about how China is driving major economic changes in the world – the ‘Asian drivers’ debate – it identifies five corridors of influ...

Vietnam keeps surprising the world with the speed and depth of its economic transformation. This research report suggests that the decentralisation of certain economic powers from central to provincial government has contributed to this success. Allowing provinces to find their own way forward was central to Vietnam's progress in institutional and...

The global innovation map is changing. Until a few years ago innovation activities were concentrated in the US, Europe and Japan. Not anymore. The rising powers of China, India and Brazil are encroaching on the innovation stronghold of the old powers. This report explores how deep the change goes and how we can explain it. Most of the literature ex...

This paper uses a value chain lens to examine the prospects for competition and cooperation between Europe and China in the global wind power sector. Drawing on insights from fieldwork conducted in 2010 combined with secondary industry data, we find that Chinese and European industries are developing distinct models of industrial‐technological orga...

‘Improve the investment climate!’ is the dominant advice for governments wishing to achieve substantial increases in productive private investment. However, national‐level investment‐climate approaches have been criticised for not paying adequate attention to context and feasibility. This article experiments with a new approach which focuses on sec...

This paper uses a value chain lens to examine the prospects for competition and cooperation between Europe and China in the global wind power sector. Drawing on insights from fieldwork conducted in 2010 combined with secondary industry data, we find that Chinese and European industries are developing distinct models of industrial‐technological orga...

Recent research has shown that alliances between policy makers and investors can be very effective in enhancing investment and growth. Drawing on the case of Egypt, this paper asks where such growth alliances come from, how they evolve over time, what their key features are, how they work, in what circumstances they do good rather than harm, and wh...

This study shows that informal relationships between key policymakers and investors have played an important role in raising levels of investment and fostering economic growth. Comparative observations show that common social roots and common professional background facilitate the emergence of an effective public‐private growth alliance but the onl...

One of the main problems associated with aid is the proliferation of donors and projects, and one of the main solutions is thought to lie in greater coordination between donors. This paper examines whether progress has been made in recent years, comparing two countries (Kenya and Indonesia) and two sectors. The research process itself, in particula...

The distinction between developing and developed countries has long been central to development studies and to debates on development policy. In earlier decades, it was in many respects accurate, and was for many purposes useful. Although the world is still very much divided between rich and poor countries, relationships among countries have change...

The starting point for this paper is a fundamental change currently occurring in the way innovation is organised in developed countries: it tended to be centralised at or near headquarters, but is now much more decentralised within the company. Equally if not more significant, innovation activities that used to be carried out in-house by innovating...

Over the last 30 years, changes in the East and Southeast Asian region have been fast and deep. China is the growth engine of a new regional production system which in turn has provoked changes in many other parts of the world. For its own fast growth, China has relied heavily on importing intermediate products from neighbouring countries, but this...

China and India have become major producers of products and services for global markets. This article explores to what extent they are also building up innovation capabilities. It draws on a combination of approaches—innovation systems, global value chains and professional networks—to analyze four of the most dynamic industries. We find that mounti...

Much of international trade is coordinated by the lead firms of Global Value Chains (GVCs) and regulated through global standards. The way in which this global governance is exercised has a significant impact on the organisation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) clusters and their upgrading opportunities. This paper is particularly concer...

A central concern of industrial policy is how to configure the relationship with the global economy. The manifold choices and pressures make this a difficult task for policy-makers. This article suggests a way of framing discussions between policy-makers, advisers and researchers, to help reduce complexity and find common ground. It demonstrates ho...

The world has changed dramatically over the last 40 years since the great waves of independence and decolonisation. And particularly in the last 20 years, the speed of industrialisation in China and other Asian countries has been breathtaking. They are not just catching up, they have begun to drive the changes in the rest of the world. This article...

Building up innovation capabilities is a process but much research on this topic remains static. This paper shows how Martin Bell has helped researchers to move from models to trajectories and understand the transitions from production to innovation capabilities. In what circumstances is it likely and does it include strategic innovation activities...

This article explores the power of the global value chain approach in explaining the growth of production capabilities and the distribution of gains. It suggests that the upgrading opportunities of local enterprises are structured by the relationships in global value chains. This is shown clearly for the case of the garment and footwear industry, w...

The fast rise in China's and India's economic power affects other developing countries in major ways. This article provides a structure for future research, proposing conceptual distinctions and questions for analysts and policy-makers. It suggests distinguishing between changes in the quantity and direction of trade; changes in the way production...

This article reflects the combined efforts of the IDS Asian Drivers Team, based on discussions held with collaborators from the South, Europe and the US. As such, there is no single author. It addresses the components of a globally networked developing research programme addressing a series of inter-related theoretical and policy challenges arising...

This article is concerned with the question of whether participation in the global economy leads to sustainable income growth. It examines the furniture industry of Central Java, which has grown rapidly since the financial crisis in 1997. The article shows that the exporting small and medium-sized enterprises generated substantial employment and in...

'Local Enterprises in the Global Economy is an important contribution to a debate that is currently gathering momentum throughout the social sciences. At the core of this debate is the role of regions in economic development processes, not only in the more economically advanced countries of the world, but also - and more urgently - in low- and midd...

Development agencies have emphasised the potential of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce to reduce barriers to entry to global markets for small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries. E-marketplaces would allow firms to buy and sell online, reaching customers across the world at low cost. A study of B2B e-marketplaces and the use...

Based on research on e-marketplaces in the garments and horticulture sectors and on the experiences of firms in Bangladesh, Kenya and South Africa, this study examines the expectations and assumptions behind the drive to invest in B2B e-commerce. It investigates what actually happens in Internet-based e-marketplaces and how developing country firms...

Humphrey J. and Schmitz H. (2002) How does insertion in global value chains affect upgrading in industrial clusters?, Reg. Studies 36, 1017-1027. What is the scope for local upgrading strategies where producers operate in global value chains? The literature on industrial clusters emphasizes the role of inter-firm co-operation and local institutions...

of the IDS, University of Sussex, with whom he collaborated on a multi-country "B2B E-Commerce for Developing Countries" research project.

In: Social Policy in a Development Context, edited by Thandika Mkandawire (forthcoming, 2002) 27 March 2002 1 For helpful comments on an earlier draft or particular sections of the chapter, I thank, as well as participants in seminars sponsored by the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex, Cornell University, Duke University, the Harvard Cente...

The concept of 'governance' is central to the global value chain approach. This article explains what it means and why it matters for development research and policy. The concept is used to refer to the interfirm relationships and institutional mechanisms through which non-market co-ordination of activities in the chain takes place. This co-ordinat...

IT IS NOW well established that clustering and networking help small and medium enterprises to grow and compete in distant markets. The evidence comes from case studies carried out in many countries and covering the 1970s and 1980s. It is less clear how local clusters cope with the global competitive pressures typical of the 1990s. This chapter sum...

There are now more than three hundred city-regions around the world with populations greater than one million. These city-regions are expanding vigorously, and they present many new and deep challenges to researchers and policy-makers in both the more developed and less developed parts of the world. The processes of global economic integration and...

An increasing number of developing countries engage in contract manufacturing for a decreasing number of global buyers. This constellation characterises many labour intensive export sectors. The positioning of developing country enterprises in such buyer-driven chains is central to research concerned with identifying the winners and losers from glo...

Inter-firm co-operation has been a major theme in the industrial cluster debate but has rarely been investigated systematically. Does it matter? What kind is most relevant? When is it most important? This paper draws together the results of four cluster studies from South Asia and Latin America. It shows that, while local external economies accrue...

Recent cluster literature suggests that joint action is essential for responding successfully to major challenges. This article investigates whether enterprises in the export-oriented Sinos Valley (South of Brazil) have stepped up cooperation in response to intensified global competition in leather footwear. Using a combination of quantitative and...

This paper is concerned with the role of trust in export manufacturing. It asks how trust has developed in two industrial clusters which are located in developing countries and export most of their output to North America and Europe. The main conclusion is that trust was based initially on socio-cultural ties between clustered firms and later on co...

Industrial districts have attracted the attention of development economists in the search for new models of industrial development. Many case studies have shown that clustering helps local enterprises to overcome growth constraints and compete in distant markets. However, empirical studies also reveal shortcomings of the industrial district model....

Recent research on industrial clusters in developing countries has unearthed some notable success stories of small local enterprises growing fast and competing in export markets. This paper focuses on some conceptual and theoretical points which help to explain them. The discussion is conducted with a view to building a bridge to current mainstream...

This paper sums up the experience of a Brazilian cluster of small and medium enterprises in the Sinos Valley. It shows that cooperation amongst local enterprises strengthens their ability to compete globally and that business associations can play an important role in identifying the key problems and proposing solutions. This paper was prepared for...

The role of trust in facilitating economic growth has been highlighted in previous contributions to this journal. In order to take this debate forward, this article argues (1) that more attention needs to be given to the relationship between sanctions and trust, and (2) that it is worth distinguishing between the minimal trust for making markets ef...

Industrial clusters of small enterprises can be found throughout the world. Clustering bestows certain advantages of collective efficiency on small enterprises, such as the external economies of proximity, (e.g. well-developed networks of suppliers and buyers) and the potential gains of consciously pursued joint action (e.g. several firms sharing a...

In both developed and developing countries there is mounting evidence that clustering and networking help small- and medium-sized manufacturers to raise their competitiveness. The role of public policy in this process is less clear. The European experience suggests that local and regional government can play an important role. Equally, if not more,...

Trust-based relations appear to foster development, mistrust undermines it. High-trust and low-trust societies are easily recognizable, but how to promote trust as part of a development strategy is less obvious. This paper provides a non-calculative definition of trust and distinguishes between the minimum trust required for basic economic transact...

This study is concerned with the growth of small local industry in developing countries and explores one particular route for understanding and fostering such growth. It focuses on the clustering of firms and the competitive advantage which they derive from local external economies and joint action, captured in the concept of collective efficiency....

This paper investigates a success story from a country in crisis: the shoe industry of the Sinos Valley in Brazil. The main question is to what extent the industrial district model captures the reality of the Sinos Valley. In many ways it does. The sectoral and geographical concentration of shoe manufacturers is formidable. Even more striking is th...

In the 1970s and 1980s, industrial districts in Europe achieved international competitiveness and attained high employment standards, even though they were based on local small- and medium-sized firms and concentrated on traditional sectors. This makes them of special interest to less-developed countries in the South and East. This paper examines w...

The purpose of this paper is to take stock of what is known about industrial clusters in LDCs and to put forward an agenda for further research. The paper shows that clustering (sectoral and geographical concentration) is common in a wide range of countries and sectors. The way clusters are organized varies a great deal. Socio-cultural ties seem to...