Increasingly, production of goods and services is spread across numerous localities and firms around the world.
Research on global value chains (GVCs) takes a fine-grained look at how these production networks vary across industries and how they are affected by structural changes in the global economy and international relations. Duke Center for International Development researchers study how policy-makers can best understand and position their economies to capitalize on changes in these complex chains. Researchers also study how changes in international law, dispute resolution, environmental change, and conflict impact the shape and efficiency of GVC activity.