Transformations  in
Business & Economics

STRENGTHENING THE ROLE OF LOCAL CLUSTERS IN CURRENT GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS⁹
Anna H. Jankowiak

ABSTRACT. In the last decade, the development of such phenomena as outsourcing, offshoring, disruption of the production chain or innovative regional clusters can be observed. Several phenomena that shape the global economy have a direct or indirect impact on supply chains and the location of production plants around the world. Currently, undoubtedly a phenomenon that has changed the world's strongest trends was the pandemic Covid - 19. The impact of the pandemic is multidimensional and visible in virtually every area of economic, social and even cultural life. There are also phenomena observed in recent years related to the New Industrial Revolution, protectionist policies pursued more and more often, as well as activities aimed at sustainable development and care for the environment. The article aims to present the possibility of including local clusters in global production chains as a consequence of technological changes as part of the New Industry Revolution, national policies and sustainability policy as well as the economic slowdown related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, global value chains are shortening and production is more geographically concentrated. Reconfiguration of supply chains and directing them to the local direction can contribute to the development of local clusters, which are a combination of companies often constituting a comprehensive production chain located in one place.

KEYWORDS: global value chains, New Industrial Revolution, clusters, pandemic.

JEL classification: F15, L52, O25.

⁹Acknowledgement : The project is financed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland under the programme" Regional Initiative of Excellence" 2019 - 2022 project number 015/RID/2018/19 total funding amount 10 721 040,00 PLN.