The links between global value chains and global innovation networks

Economic globalisation has given rise to two types of networks that stretch out across OECD and emerging economies. At the one side, global value chains (GVCs) can be thought of as the “material” transfers of goods and services (final as well as intermediate) across borders. At the other side, Global Innovation Networks (GINs) refer to the transfers of intangibles and immaterial assets between countries. Concerns are increasingly raised in policy discussions that countries are not able to capture the value of their innovative activities, hence the clear need to better understand the interdependencies between these two types of networks.