Special Theme: Theorizing Transnational Labour Markets: Economic-Sociological Approaches
Global value chains in international knowledge work: networks, stratifications and labour markets
GRAHAM HOLLINSHEAD,
Corresponding Author
GRAHAM HOLLINSHEAD
Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorGRAHAM HOLLINSHEAD,
Corresponding Author
GRAHAM HOLLINSHEAD
Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Search for more papers by this author1GVC 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.
Abstract
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),1 the significance of factors such as knowledge, language, citizenship and age as labour market differentiators for knowledge work is brought to the fore.
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