Contractual Networks and the Access of Small and Medium Enterprises to Global Value Chains: the Case of the Brazilian Aircraft Industry
Abstract: In the last three decades, the organisation of production has undergone a major transformation from vertical integration towards de-verticalisation, with associated increases in outsourcing and the international fragmentation of production into global value chains (GVCs). Among the most important consequences of GVCs are the creation of new opportunities for developing countries to participate in international markets and cross-border business networks, and the development of new contractual practices and new models of collaboration among firms, including network forms of organization. This paper examines these two aspects of GVCs through a case study of the commercial aircraft industry in Brazil. First, I provide an analysis of the role of multilateral contractual networks as an instrument to promote developing countries’ small and medium enterprises (SMEs) access to GVCs, and increase the benefits derived. Second, I examine the lack of the proper legal tools in Brazil to regulate the different forms of inter-firm collaboration that exist within multilateral contractual networks.
