Publication: Supplying Lead Firms, Intangible Assets and Power in Global Value Chains – Explaining Governance in the Fertilizer Chain

By Peter Dannenberg and Gideon Tups (CRC-TRR Project C01 Future in Chains / University of Cologne).

Abstract

Global suppliers of agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and agrochemicals exert increasing degrees of power in global value chains (GVCs). Although the GVC literature has explained how global buyers govern GVCs from the buying-end, the question of how global suppliers achieve governance from the supplying-end remains underexplored. We address this gap by combining a multidimensional typology of power with literature on intangible assets. We argue that intangible assets are crucial resources for global suppliers to morph otherwise ungovernable supply chains for undifferentiated input commodities into more sophisticated and governable GVCs. We illustrate our argument with the case of the global fertilizer supplier, YARA International. YARA’s intangible asset investments were instrumental in governing the value chain integration of Tanzanian smallholder farmers. They allowed YARA to exert more than bargaining power (demonstrative, institutional and constitutive power) and to effectively position itself as supplying lead firm in Tanzania’s agro-industrial GVC.

Dannenberg, P., Tups, G. 2023. Supplying lead firms, intangible assets and power in global value chains: Explaining governance in the fertilizer chain. Global Networks. A Journal of Transnational Affairs. Full Text

For more information on project C01 Future in Chains click here.

More CRC News

cover for a web post

New Publication: Coloniality of Power and the Imaginaries of Tourism in Victoria Falls

By Mfundo Mlilo (Project C01 Future in Chains), Michael Bollig (Project A04 Future Conservation) and Javier Revilla Diez (Project C01 Future in Chains). Abstract Victoria ...
Read More »
group picture taken during a workshop in kenya

CRC-TRR 228 Future Rural Africa Dissemination Workshop in Kabarnet, Baringo County

On September 9 and 10, the Collaborative Research Centre-TRR Future Rural Africa hosted a dissemination workshop in Kabarnet, Baringo County. During those two days, research ...
Read More »
cover image for a web post

Vacancy: Student Assistant Project C05

In connection with the project C05 ‘Framing Futures’, we currently invite applications for a student assistant position for a period of 12 months in 2025. ...
Read More »

IDOS Brown Bag Lunch: Book Presentation “Navigating Uncertainty: Radical Rethinking for a Turbulent World” With Ian Scoones

11 October 11, 2024 I 12.30 – 13:45 pm (CEST)                “Navigating Uncertainty: Radical Rethinking for a Turbulent World”, Ian Scoones Uncertainties are everywhere. ...
Read More »
cover for a web post

Book Launch: Agricultural Intensification, Environmental Conservation, Conflict and Co-Existence at Lake Naivasha, Kenya

Agricultural Intensification, Environmental Conservation, Conflict and Co-Existence at Lake Naivasha, Kenya Volume Editors: Gerda Kuiper, Eric Kioko (Project C03 Green Futures), and Michael Bollig (Project ...
Read More »
Scroll to Top