Study On The Upgrading Of Ningbo Garment Industrial Cluster Based On The Global Value Chains

The fragmentation of the global garment value chains supplies Ningbo garment industrial cluster the opportunity of embedding in global value chains achieving upgrading. Therefore, the external linkages are as important as the internal linkages to the cluster's development. It makes a great sense to put Ningbo garment industrial cluster under the background of global value chains governance to analyze its development and upgrading.That is the core content of the thesis too.The thesis takes"governance"and"upgrading"as the clues and makes economic analysis on the governance of global value chains using western economics,institutional economics and international trade economics for references. It adopts the investigation combing computation and comparision analysis and get the conclusion as follows:Firstly, through the analysis of the global value chain theory, the thesis considers that with the fragmentation of the global value chains, local industrial clusters in developing countries are embedding in the world production networks in different ways which means a new mode for the development of the clusters and regions. It is a process of improving the value capturing capability that is through embedding in one or some parts of the value chains and reaction with others.Secondly, through the empirical research on Ningbo garment industrial cluster, the thesis conceives that Ningbo garment industrial cluster has embedded in the manufacturing part of the global garment value chains, but it does not mean that the embedment could lead the cluster to upgrade and development. The governance exerted by the leading firms drove the product upgrading and the process upgrading objectively. However, the cluster can not change the embedded way and position in the value chain and go beyond the barriers set by the leading firms in the core parts which can help the cluster to obtain more value.Lastly, through analyzing the negative factors that influent the upgrading, the thesis concludes that Ningbo garment industrial cluster is an open local cluster and the external linkages of global value chain play an important role on its form and development. So the study of its upgrading should take account into both internal part of the cluster and the global value chains. Ningbo garment industrial cluster should make use of internal and external factors to build core competencies in the high value-added part of the value chain from both firms and the government level.