Does economic upgrading generate social upgrading? Insights from the horticulture, apparel, mobile phones and tourism sectors.

Abstract We implement a “parsimonious” and operational approach to measuring economic and social upgrading over 1990-2009 in four global value chains -- apparel, mobile phones, agrofoods and tourism -- based entirely on data published by international institutions. Economic upgrading is defined as a combination of growth in export market shares and export unit values. Social upgrading is a combination of changes in employment and real wages. We find considerable variation across sectors in the relation between economic and social change. “Downgrading” is not uncommon, especially in the social realm. Economic upgrading is often not associated with social upgrading, but social upgrading occurs almost always when economic upgrading is also observed.