Daria Taglioni - Böcker

This Toolkit provides a framework, guidelines, and practical tools for conducting an analysis and diagnostics of trade competitiveness of the services sector. The methods of analysis are fully customised to address the features of the services sector. Successfully tested on country-specific assessments, the methods proposed in this toolkit aim to evaluate the competitiveness of the services sector and identify constraints to improved competitiveness and appropriate policy responses. The output of a services trade competitiveness assessment can be used to assess the overall performance of a country's services sector as well as for individual sub-sectors.In addition to the desk (quantitative) analysis, the success of a services trade competitiveness diagnostics (STCD) will depend on qualitative assessments and input from a wide variety of stakeholders in the country, including government officials and the private sector. A STCD should therefore be conducted in four key steps: preparation of a preliminary trade outcomes assessment based on available hard data; initial desk research and preparation for fieldwork; in-country field research; and finally, analysis and preparation of the final STCD report and policy recommendations.The toolkit consists of the following main sections:Overview and guidelines for conducting a STCD. This section is illustrative and appropriate to all audiences, including policy makers and managers overseeing a STCD exercise.Implementation toolkit, this provides detailed practical information and tools for carrying out the diagnostics exercise. The implementation toolkit is further divided in three modules:Module 1: Services Trade Outcomes Analysis (indicators and tools)Module 2: Services Trade Potential Analysis (indicators and tools)Module 3: Policy Options for Services Trade CompetitivenessIllustration of Reference DatabasesDatabases of indicators that can help assess the importance of services and services trade.

Economic,  technological,  and  political  shifts  as  well  as  changing  business strategies have driven firms to unbundle production processes and disperse them  across  countries.  Thanks  to  these  changes,  developing  countries can now increase their participation in global value chains (GVCs) and thus become more competitive in agriculture, manufacturing and services. This is a paradigm shift from the 20th century when countries had to build the entire supply chain domestically to become competitive internationally. For policymakers, the focus is on boosting domestic value added and improving access  to  resources  and  technology  while  advancing  development  goals.However, participating in global value chains does not automatically improve living  standards  and  social  conditions  in  a  country.  This  requires  not  only improving  the  quality  and  quantity  of  production  factors  and  redressing market failures, but also engineering equitable distributions of opportunities and  outcomes  -  including  employment,  wages,  work  conditions,  economic rights, gender equality, economic security, and protecting the environment. The internationalization of production processes helps with very few of these development  challenges.  Following  this  perspective,  Making  Global  Value Chains Work for Development offers a strategic framework, analytical tools, and policy options to address this challenge. The book conceptualizes GVCs and makes it easier for policymakers and practitioners to discuss them and their implications for development. It shows why GVCs require fresh thinking; it  serves  as  a  repository  of  analytical  tools;  and  it  proposes  a  strategic framework  to  guide  policymakers  in  identifying  the  key  objectives  of  GVC participation and in selecting suitable economic strategies to achieve them.

This report is the first comprehensive framework on how to facilitate SMEs and LIDCs access to and upgrading within global value chains. It identifies policy interventions at the global level needed to support domestic reforms.