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Scholars have shown how the labor governance of global production transforms over time as a result of shifts in economic governance and the often contentious interactions among capital, labor, and state actors. This article adds to this research through an analysis of banana global supply chains in Guatemala in which labor governance has been shaped by an antagonistic 125-year history of predatory global production expansion and transformation, state authoritarianism and reform, and worker resistance and engagement. The article argues that, as a result of these contested processes, two dramatically distinct forms of labor governance evolved in the same country and sector with significantly different impacts on workers. On the northern Atlantic coast, a collective labor governance model developed where workers are unionized and enjoy the benefits of collective bargaining. In contrast, on the southern Pacific coast a private labor governance model based on social audits and certifications reigns that is devoid of collective and protected representation and labor conditions remain harsh. To explore this argument, this article draws on field research, an original worker survey, trade and corporate finance data analysis, and secondary historical sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to analyze the dynamics of raw silk production in the period 2011-2022 at the global level and in the top six producing countries using the official data and usual methods in such a research: fixed basis and structural indices, descriptive statistics, regression equations, coefficient of determination, correlations, absolute and relative differences, comparisons etc. The results showed that, at the global level, raw silk production accounted for 91,221 Metric tons in the year 2022 being by 30% smaller than in 2011. The top silk producing countries are China, India, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Thailand and Brazil. While in China, Thailand and Brazil production has substantially declined (- 52%, -33.5%, -23%), in India, Uzbekistan and Vietnam silk production increased by 58.6%, 116.7% and 113.4%. The share of all these six countries in the global production is 99.2%. In 2022, the highest weight belongs to China (54.8%) and India (40.1%). It is expected as silk production to raise taking into account that it is an eco and skin friendly product, and also a biodegradable product, while synthetic fibers are polluting. However, the high production cost, market price fluctuation and other restraining factors could affect small farmers dealing with sericiculture. For the developing countries, silkworm rearing and silk production sector is a profitable business which offer jobs, income, a better living standard, reducing poverty, hungry, gender discrimination, preserving biodiversity and conserving soil quality and contributing to the sustainable development in the rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital and data-driven technologies are having substantial impacts on global production, with growing analysis within established frameworks such as Global Value Chains (GVC) and Global Production Networks (GPN). Given the claims, however, that digitalization is leading to transformations in the patterns of production and labor, further theoretical work is needed to consider how these frameworks fit with evolving dynamics. Beginning with critiques that mainstream GVC/GPN have poorly theorized the concept of value, the paper argues that a re-centering of value is crucial for improved understanding of digitalization. To do this, broader debates in the literature on the digital economy—on rent and surplus value—are reviewed. These debates provide an expanded perspective of value including a broader understanding of forms of techno-economic rent and the growing debates on heterogeneous forms of labor, shaping production. A stronger orientation towards value within mainstream GVC/GPN studies can absorb some of these ideas, but considering the evolving forms, conventional notions of governance and upgrading may be less viable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OPEC continued its efforts to strengthen and stabilize the global oil market in the 2000. Increasing market volatility and the collapse of the global financial sector have unfortunately led to an economic recession. The Organization then began to support the oil sector to address the crisis. The purpose of this article is to provide an explanation from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. To begin with, we will give some general information on this organization and with the help of statistical data we will give an analysis of the evolution of the price of oil correlatively with the events which marked the oil industry which will enable us to see that the principle of supply and demand is respected in the form, because oil prices fluctuate with supply and demand levels.

We examine corporate rentiership in the contemporary economy and suggest that the idea we are in a moment of step-change within capitalism may be premature. Implicit in arguments for a step-change is the claim that the present-day economy emphasises unproductive or rentier forms rather than the more productive and entrepreneurial forms of the past. In contrast, we argue that to understand our current situation we need to focus on the division of labour and most especially on processes of standardisation and the rise of intangible assets. Moving from Marx's understanding of rent as a class relation, we re-embed rent within the circuit of capital and the realm of value distribution to investigate the class dynamics (among labour, capital and the state) through which giant firms seem to generate value out of rentierism. We argue that these class dynamics include the crucial and unexplored relation between standardisation and intangibles. We suggest standardisation within the division of labour renders people, places, and things interchangeable and that, in contrast, intangible assets differentiate them. When intangible assets emerge as new forms of property, they enable owners to generate scarcity and exert direct and/or indirect control over the wider division of labour. Through examining the combined rise of standardisation and intangible assets within the technical division of labour, we demonstrate how hierarchy within the social division of labour empowers some corporations to capture value produced elsewhere within the circuit of capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Companies operating in global production networks face increasing complexity, uncertainty, and volatility making them more susceptible to disruptions. However, disruption management is characterized by intuitive reactions that focus exclusively on production or logistics, making cross-cutting solutions difficult. Therefore, this paper presents an approach to an integrated disruption management that combines production and logistics perspectives by considering relevant network partners in order to implement efficient, network-optimal (combinations of) countermeasures to disruptions. Using simulation, design of experiments, and metamodeling of cause-effect relationships between disruptions, countermeasures, and network performance, the approach enables fostering network robustness by efficient decision-making in highly complex environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the relationship between overtime and corporate codes of conduct in the global electronics industry through a cultural political economy perspective. First, drawing on examples from China, it considers how the changing political economy of global production has contributed to the emergence of illicit overtime in the electronics industry. The article examines the endemic use of excessive working hours at the first-tier supplier level and explains it as a systemic method to sustain competitive accumulation in a sector characterized by tight production cycles. Second, the article analyzes the economic imaginary that supports the use of overtime and the accompanying mechanisms that institutionalize it as a material practice. It shows that the Responsible Business Alliance Code of Conduct plays a crucial role in reproducing illicit conditions. Conclusions explore the potential of reorienting geographic understandings of illicit practices within the mainstream economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Female workers who enter factory work in Sri Lanka's Free Trade Zones (FTZs) via contractors are not forced to join or remain in contractor labor pools. This paper, however, argues that such workers nevertheless remain unfree due to cultural and emotional bonds that restrict labor mobility. By analyzing how contracted workers' entry and mobility within work get shaped by a coalition of patriarchal agents—parents, contractors and factory management—the paper demonstrates how compulsive emotional conditions, that I term "invisible bondage," are produced and maintained. While the degree of compulsion varies depending on the particular form of labor contracting (i.e., Tamil women from the war torn areas recruited by military personnel, or daily hired workers), I show that all labor contracting for global production represent how forms of unfreedoms are interwoven into supposedly free market relations of production. Such invisible controls, I argue, are essential for neoliberal capitalism to thrive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Lentil is one of the most important food legumes consumed widely throughout the world. Lentils are produced in diverse agroecological regions, such as Asia, North and South America, Africa, and Oceania. During the last two decades (2001–2020), world production of lentils increased by 107%, from 3.15 to 6.54 million metric tons. Canada leads lentil producing countries (with 44% share of the global output), followed by India and Australia having 18% and 8% share, respectively. Being a rich source of protein, complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, and folic acid, lentils are considered a healthy food nutritionally. Lentils also contain a number of bioactive phytochemicals, such as flavonoids, total phenolics, phytate, saponins, and tannins. Dehulling and splitting of lentils are the most‐commonly used basic processing methods. Additional value‐added operations include milling of whole or dehulled lentils and isolating fractions that are rich in protein and starch that can be used as ingredients in diverse food applications. Lentils are aligned well with the changing consumer trends towards meat alternatives, plant‐based diets, and healthy food options. Furthermore, due to increased environmental concerns for the production of meat, consumers are minimizing or even excluding meat consumption and opting for non‐meat foods produced in a sustainable manner. This review article provides an overview of lentil's production/trade, consumption trends, nutritional profile, value‐added processing, emerging research and development trends, and the role of lentil production in environmental sustainability.

Using quarterly aggregate-level data on Japanese manufacturing affiliates in major host countries, this paper examines the impact of COVID-19 on global production by multinational corporations. Our findings can be summarized as follows: First, we found significantly negative impacts of COVID-19 on the performance of Japanese affiliates, especially sales in Q2 2020. Second, local sales, exports to Japan, and exports to third countries almost recovered in Q4 2020, implying the resilience of multinational production and global supply chains. Third, lockdown policies, in particular workplace closure orders for all-but-essential workplaces had significant negative effects on the sales and employment of Japanese affiliates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The supply chain strategy has a significant impact on energy consumption. This strategy determines the location of individual links in the chain (suppliers, producers, distributors), which affects the costs of logistics processes, including, in particular, transport processes. Currently, due to the rapid increase in fuel prices, the issue of energy consumption in the supply chains is becoming increasingly important. The aim of the article is to present the impact of the increase in fuel and energy costs on the costs of logistics processes and, as a result, on the profitability of different supply chain strategies. The profitability of changing from global to local sources of supply as a result of rising energy prices was especially taken into account. The article presents the results of interviews from enterprises carried out by the authors and the results of simulations carried out using a model developed by the authors. The need to conduct such research resulted from the existing research gap and the need to take into account contemporary changes and conditions. The research was conducted in a period of rapid increase in fuel and energy costs. Both the research conducted by the method of interviews, as well as the calculations and simulations indicated that despite a very large increase in rates for transport services, especially in maritime transport, it is still not profitable to relocate production from the Far East to Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human rights in global value chains have become a key field of study in international law and corporate governance. The analysis often starts with a gap – a 'governance gap' in human rights protection. This pragmatic starting point calls for pragmatic solutions: better corporate compliance and more accountability. While this goes a long way in addressing corporate misconduct, the global corporate form, its power and legitimation in transnationally generating and appropriating value tend to become naturalized phenomena. Moreover, the effects of accountability agendas on corporate power and legitimation are hardly considered. Instead, I propose to address the 'human rights problem' by understanding the corporation and its networks as consequences of international politics – conceptualized as inter-societal multiplicity. The multiplicity lens offers a possibility to replace the governance gap with a productive conception of inter-societal conditions and can complement the focus on accountability and compliance. I conclude the article by tentatively sketching three important consequences of such a starting point for defining the problem of human rights in global value chains: the international dimensions of the division of labour under competitive conditions, the legitimation of corporate practices and the production of knowledge for their regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Faba bean (Vicia faba L.), a nutritious leguminous cool tolerant crop, is widely cultivated throughout the world. China, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, Australia, and France are the main producers of faba beans. In recent years, interest has been growing in health and nutritional benefits of faba beans and developments of different foods enriched with biomolecules with improved functionality, nutrition value, and health benefits. Faba beans are rich source of lysine rich proteins, carbohydrate, minerals, vitamins, and numerous bioactive compounds. It is also a good source of l‐3,4‐dihydroxyphenylalanine (L‐DOPA), which is a precursor of dopamine and can be potentially utilized for Parkinson's disease treatment. The seeds of faba beans can be consumed dry, roasted, soaked, cooked, frozen, or canned. However, a number of antinutritional factors such as phytic acid, trypsin inhibitors, saponins, vicin and convicine (favism‐inducing compounds), lectins, and condensed tannins negatively affect the biological value of faba beans resulting in its underutilization. For expanding the utilization of faba beans in human nutrition, the removal of these antinutrients is necessary. A number of methods including dehulling, soaking, germination, fermentation, and heat processing (cooking, boiling, extrusion, and autocalving) have been used individually or in combination to eliminate or destroy the antinutritional factors in faba beans. This comprehensive review covers global production, nutritional profile, and processing of faba beans and its utilization in various product developments.

This study aims to identify the Fashion District as the point where the expansion of the global network meets a local context and to investigate the influence of the apparel industry's global network on the spatial change of the Los Angeles Fashion District. Los Angeles apparel industry is expanding and restructuring its production network and global value chain through the alliance of various interest groups in the neoliberal system. The garment industry in the United States and Los Angeles has been heavily influenced by international institutions such as the multi-fiber arrangement. As the global production geography is reorganized and expanded due to changes in international systems and labor costs, the pan-pacific global value chain of China, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America, centering on the Los Angeles Fashion District is formed and functioned. In the business relationship between the firms in the production process, not only the cost but also the ethnicity of the subjects in charge of each production process tended to play an important role. Especially in the case of the Los Angeles apparel industry, the connectivity between Koreans located at each stage of production is emphasized. Korean manufacturers prefer Asian subcontractors rather than geographically far closer Latin American countries because of the cost of labor and the cost of establishing factories and the policies of the national and city governments, as well as socio-cultural characteristics such as co-ethnic relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advancement in Web-/Internet-based technologies and applications in manufacturing sector has increased the tilization of cyber workspace to enable more efficient and effective ways of doing manufacturing from distributed locations. This work introduces a novel continuous improvement framework to enhance the performance of production lines through multi-plant comparison and learning among identical or similar production lines in different locations by leveraging the information stored on factory cloud. In this work, production data from multiple identical production lines are collected and analyzed to learn the "best" feasible action on critical machines, which offers a new way to optimize the management of product lines. Machine learning and system model are used to find the relationships between the performance index and the available data. A real case study based on multiple similar automotive plants is provided to demonstrate the method and the increases of throughput are predicted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global supply chains have been an important factor in changing the organization of the global goods production and global economy. The pandemic has also brought negative effects on global supply chains, as we have seen a shortage of workforce and transport systems (maritime, air, land), while demand for mandatory products, such as sanitary ones, was rising. The blocking of supply chains has also affected the process of economic recovery, unbalancing the production sector, and fueling inflation. During this time, the European Union's reliance on the foreign imports it had both before the pandemic and after periods of trade imbalance, were brought to light, considerably amplified. Increasing autonomy has been a necessity of these conditions, and in order to optimize the resilience of its supply chains, the European Union is applying politics aimed at a wide diversification of suppliers, development of internal capabilities, support for a multilateral business environment based on a set of well-defined rules, and a good cooperation with the United States of America. The study carried out an in-depth analysis of relevant literature in order to identify the challenges for both the member-states of the European Union, and for other states such as Japan, the United States of America, South Korea, and Australia in terms of imbalances in the supply chains and dependencies on imports from China. We also identified the best practices and measures adopted during the pandemic that led to major trade imbalances. The research questions to which this study provides detailed answers to are: "How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected global supply chains?" and "What measures were taken globally in order to overcome the imbalances caused by the pandemic?" This study offers a clarification on the situation of global supply chains and brings, in the same analysis, a series of good practices and strategies to solve supply chain blockages and reducing the dependency on foreign exports that most states had before the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In times of globalization and digitalization, silo mentality and protectionism lead to competitive disadvantages for all partners of a production network. High scrap rates and low supplier margins in the production of high-precision products can be identified as resulting inefficiencies. Supply chain collaboration can contribute to significantly increase product quality by simultaneously reducing the associated costs, globally. We introduce batch allocation as a data-driven method for cross-company quality control of differing component batches based on both, supplier data and internal data. The industrial application is demonstrated within a global production network for manufacturing high-precision products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using quarterly aggregate-level data on Japanese manufacturing affiliates in major host countries, this paper examines the impact of COVID-19 on global production by multinational corporations. Our findings can be summarized as follows: First, we found significantly negative impacts of COVID-19 on the performance of Japanese affiliates, especially sales in Q2 2020. Second, local sales, exports to Japan, and exports to third countries almost recovered in Q4 2020, implying the resilience of multinational production and global supply chains. Third, lockdown policies, in particular workplace closure orders for all-but-essential workplaces had significant negative effects on the sales and employment of Japanese affiliates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In this paper, the authors empirically investigate under which conditions production network management is effective to improve manufacturers' financial performance. For this, the authors explore contingencies between production networks and the three key dimensions of organizational environment. Design/methodology/approach: A survey with senior managers was conducted for this research. The authors used a hierarchical regression analysis to test interaction effects and draw on follow-up interviews with chief operating officers (COOs) and senior managers to elaborate and explain the found associations. Findings: Results indicate that manufacturers' financial performance is only associated with their network capability level if they operate in hostile competitive environments. In moderate competitive environments, improvements in the network capability level are not associated with greater financial performance. In particularly munificent environments, such production network upgrades are even associated with the opposite effect. Practical implications: Results highlight in which organizational contexts upgrading production networks has positive performance implications and under which circumstances it is ineffective or even counterproductive. Originality/value: The authors draw on unique survey data to add quantitative evidence to the predominantly conceptual and qualitative literature on global production networks. This is also one of the first studies to connect the topics of production networks and organizational environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simultaneously launching new models globally becomes a problem with an increase in global production. Although Toyota Motor Corporation and Hyundai Motor Company have different production systems, they have almost at the same time created organizations with similar functions to solve the problem of simultaneously launching new models globally. These organizations are Toyota’s Global Production Center (GPC) and Hyundai’s pilot center. Both were new organizations with their own pilot production lines instead of conventional mass production lines. However, Toyota’s GPC, which is a part of the mother factory system, plays a complementary role vis-a-vis the company’s domestic plants, while at Hyundai’s pilot center, which is a part of the model factory system, the pilot center functions independently of the domestic plants. This is how Toyota reduces the burden on its competitive mother factories in Japan, while Hyundai opts to maintain a distance from its domestic factories, which are not sources of its competitiveness.

Production processes are fragmenting across borders with countries trading tasks rather than products. Export statistics based on value added reveal a process of vertical specialisation. Yet, what do countries do when exporting? In this article, we provide novel evidence on functional specialisation (FS) in trade. We find surprisingly large and pervasive heterogeneity in specialisation across countries. A positive (negative) correlation between GDP per capita and specialisation in R&D (fabrication) functions is documented. Specialisation in management and marketing functions is unrelated to income. We show how our approach can be easily extended to study FS in trade at the sub-national level. We argue that this is needed to better understand the potential for regional development under global integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]