You are warmly invited to

 

 

Globalisation, the platform economy and governance

Professor John Humphrey

 

Wednesday 14^th November 2018

4 - 6:30 pm

Room BLG07

University Building

City, University of London

 

Abstract

Globalisation in the late 20^th century was characterised by fragmentation — offshoring to low-wage locations and outsourcing. Fragmentation has to be accompanied by some degree of coordination. The theory of global value chain (GVC) governance analysed how lead firms in value chains exercised control over suppliers even in the absence of ownership. But the 21^st century has seen the emergence of new drivers of globalisation based on platforms — Apple, Google, Intel, Airbnb, gaming platforms, and many more. Well-defined chains of suppliers and buyers are replaced by complex networks of platform providers and “complementors” that may not even transact directly with each other. What forms of coordination are required in the platform economy, and how different are they from the governance mechanisms analysed by GVC theory?

 

Bio

John Humphrey is an Honorary Professor at the University of Sussex Business School and formerly a Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies in Brighton. He has researched and published extensively on global value chains, with empirical studies in the automotive and horticulture sectors and contributions to the development of global value chain theory. He is currently writing about the governance of technology and market platforms from a value chain perspective.

 

 

The Jeremy Tunstall Global Media Research Centre

Department of Sociology

City, University of London