泥岩裂缝储层地震识别的理论和方法

During the exploration of fractured reservoirs, worldwide difficult problems will be encountered: how to locate the fractured zones, how to quantitatively determine the azimuth, density, and distribution of the fractures, and how to compute the permeability and porosity of the fractures. In an endeavor to solve these problems, the fractured shale reservoir in SiKou area of ShengLi oil field was chosen as a study area. A study of seismic predictive theory and methods for solving problems encountered in fractured reservoir exploration are examined herein. Building on widely used current fractured reservoir exploration techniques, new seismic theories and methods focusing on wave propagation principles in anisotropic medium are proposed. Additionally, integrated new seismic data acquisition and processing methods are proposed. Based on research and application of RVA and WA methods from earlier research, a new method of acoustic impedance varying with azimuth (IPVA) creatively is put forth. Lastly combining drilling data, well log data, and geologic data, an integrated seismic predictive method for cracked reservoir bed was formed. A summary of the six parts of research work of this paper is outlined below. In part one, conventional geologic and geophysical prediction methods etc. for cracked reservoir exploration are examined, and the weaknesses of these approaches discussed. In part two, seismic wave propagation principles in cracked reservoirs are studied. The wave equation of seismic velocity and attenuation factor in three kinds of fracture mediums is induced, and the azimuth anisotropy of velocity and attenuation in fracture mediums is determined. In part three, building on the research and application of AVA and WA methods by a former researcher, a new method of acoustic impedance creatively varying with azimuth (IPVA) is introduced. A practical software package utilizing this technique is also introduced. In part four, Base on previously discussed theory, first a large full azimuth 3d seismic data (70km~2) was designed and acquired. Next, the volume was processed with conventional processing sequence. Then AVA, WA, and IPVA processing was applied, and finally the azimuth and density of the fractures were quantitatively determined by an integrated method. Predictions were supported by well data that indicate the approach is highly reliable. in part five, geological conditions contributing to cracked reservoir bed formation are analyzed in the LuoJia area resulting in the discovery that the main fractured zones are related to fault distribution in the basin, that also control the accumulation of the oil and gas, the generation mechanisms and types of fractured shale reservoirs are studied. Lastly, by using full 3D seismic attributes, azimuth and density of cracked reservoir zones are successfully quantitative predicted. Using an integrated approach that incorporates seismic, geologic and well log data, the best two fractured oil prospects in LouJia area are proposed. These results herein represent a break through in seismic technology, integrated seismic predictive theory, and production technology for fractured reservoirs. The approach fills a void that can be applied both inside China, and internationally. Importantly, this technique opens a new exploration play in the ShengLi oil field that while difficult has substantial potential. Properly applied, this approach could play an important role toward stabilizing the oil field' production. In addition, this technique could be extended fracture exploration in other oil fields producing substantial economic reward.

火成岩储层裂缝识别、预测理论与方法研究－以济阳坳陷火成岩油藏为例

Since 1970s, igneous reservoirs such as Shang741, Bin674 and Luol51 have been found in Jiyang depression, which are enrichment and heavy-producing. Showing good prospect of exploration and development, igneous reservoirs have been the main part of increasing reserves and production in Shengli oilfield. As fracture igneous reservoir being an extraordinary complex concealed reservoir and showing heavy heterogeneity in spatial distribution, the study of recognition, prediction, formation mechanism and the law of distribution of fracture is essential to develop the reservoir. Guided by multiple discipline theory such as sedimentology, geophysics, mineralogy, petroleum geology, structural geology and reservoir engineering, a set of theories and methods of recognition and prediction of fractured igneous rock reservoir are formed in this paper. Rock data, three-dimensional seismic data, log data, borehole log data, testing data and production data are combined in these methods by the means of computer. Based on the research of igneous rock petrography and reservoir formation mechanism, emphasized on the assessment and forecast of igneous rock reservoir, aimed at establishing a nonhomogeneity quantification model of fractured igneous rock reservoir, the creativity on the fracture recognition, prediction and formation mechanism are achieved. The research result is applied to Jiyang depression, suggestion of exploration and development for fractured igneous rock reservoir is supplied and some great achievement and favourable economic effect are achieved. The main achievements are gained as follows: 1. The main facies models of igneous rock reservoir in JiYang depression are summarized. Based on data and techniques of seism, well log and logging,started from the research of single well rock facies, proceeded by seismic and log facies research, from point to line and line to face, the regional igneous facies models are established. And hypabyssal intrusion allgovite facies model, explosion volcaniclastic rock facies model and overfall basaltic rocks facies model are the main facies models of igneous rock reservoir in JiYang depression. 2. Four nonhomogenous reservoir models of igneous reservoirs are established, which is the base of fracture prediction and recognition. According to characteristics of igneous petrology and spatial types of reservoir, igneous reservoirs of Jiyang depression are divided into four categories: fractured irruptive rock reservoir, fracture-pore thermocontact metamorphic rock and irruptive rock compound reservoir, pore volcanic debris cone reservoir and fracture-pore overfall basaltic rock reservoir. The spatial distribution of each model's reservoir has its features. And reservoirs can be divided into primary ones and secondary ones, whose mechanism of formation and laws of distribution are studied in this paper. 3. Eight geologic factors which dominate igneous reservoirs are presented. The eight geologic factors which dominates igneous reservoirs are igneous facies, epigenetic tectonics deformation, fracture motion, intensity of intrusive effect and adjoining-rock characters, thermo-contact metamorphic rock facies, specific volcano-tectonic position, magmatic cyclicity and epigenetic diagenetic evolution. The interaction of the eight factors forms the four types nonhomogenous reservoir models of igneous reservoirs in Jiyang depression. And igneous facies and fracture motion are the most important and primary factors. 4. Identification patterns of seismic, well log and logging facies of igneous rocks are established. Igneous rocks of Jiyang depression show typical reflecting features on seismic profile. Tabular reflection seismic facies, arc reflection seismic facies and hummocky or mushroom reflection seismic facies are the three main facies. Logging response features of basic basalt and diabase are shown as typical "three low and two high", which means low natural gamma value, low interval transit-time, low neutron porosity, high resistivity and high density. Volcaniclastic rocks show "two high and three low"-high neutron porosity, high interval transit-time, low density, low-resistance and low natural gamma value. Thermo-contact metamorphic rocks surrounding to diabase show "four high and two low" on log data, which is high natural gamma value, high self-potential anomaly, high neutron porosity, high interval transit-time and low density and low-resistance. Based on seismic, well log and logging data, spatial shape of Shang 741 igneous rock is described. 5. The methods of fracture prediction and recognition for fractured igneous reservoir are summarized. Adopting FMI image log and nuclear magnetic resonance log to quantitative analysis of fractured igneous reservoir and according to formation mechanism and shape of fracture, various fractures are recognized, such as high-angle fracture, low-angle fracture, vertical fracture, reticulated fracture, induced fracture, infilling fracture and corrosion vug. Shang 741 intrusive rock reservoir can be divided into pore-vug compound type, pore fracture type, micro-pore and micro-fracture type. Physical properties parameters of the reservoir are computed and single-well fracture model and reservoir parameters model are established. 6. Various comprehensive methods of fracture prediction and recognition for fractured igneous reservoir are put forward. Adopting three-element (igneous facies, fracture motion and rock bending) geologic comprehensive reservoir evaluation technique and deep-shallow unconventional laterolog constrained inversion technique, lateral prediction of fractured reservoir such as Shang 741 is taken and nonhomogeneity quantification models of reservoirs are established.

复杂断块油藏形成机制及剩余油预测

The central uplift in the Huimin depression is famous for its large amounts of faults and small-scale fault-block area, and it is the famed typical complicated fault-block group oil & gas field in the whole world. After many years of rolling exploration and exploitation, many complex oil &gas field have been discovered in the central uplift, and won the splendent fruit. With the gradual deepening and development of the rolling exploitation, the exploration faces more and more difficulties. Therefore, it is important to reveal the forming mechanism and distributing rule of the complex fault-block reservoir, and to realize the forecast of the complex fault-block reservoir, sequentially, expedite the exploration step. This article applies the new multi-subject theory, method and technique such as structure geometry, kinematics, dynamics, structural stress field, fluid potential field, well logging record and constrained inversion of seismic records, coherence analysis, the seal mold and seal history of oil-bounded fault etc, and try to reveal the forming mechanism and distributing law of the complex fault-block reservoir, in result, implements the forecast of the fault-block reservoir and the remaining oil distributing. In order to do so, this article synthetically carries out structural estimate, reservoir estimate, fault sealing history estimate, oil-bearing properties estimate and residual. This article also synthetically researches, describes and forecast the complex fault-block in Huimin depression by use of the techniques, e.g. seismetic data post-stack processing technique, multi-component demarcating technique, elaborate description technique for the fault-block structure, technique of layer forecasting, fault sealing analysis technique, comprehensive estimate technique of fault-block, comprehensive analysis and estimate technique of remaining oil etc. The activities of the faults varies dramatically in the Huimin depression, and most of the second-class and the third-class faults are contemporaneous faults, which control the macroscopical distribution of the reservoir in the Huimin depression. The fourth-class faults cause the complication between the oil & gas among the fault-blocks. The multi-period strong activities of the Linyi fracture resulted in the vertical migration of large amount of oil & gas along with the faults. This is the main reason for the long vertical distribution properties near the Linyi fracture in the Huimin depression. The sealing ability of the fault is controlled by the property,size and direction of the main stress, the contact relationship of the both sides of the fault, the shale polluting factor, and the configuration relationship between the fault move period and the migration period of oil & gas. The article suggest four fault-sealing modes in the research zone for the first time, which establishes the foundation for the further forecast of the complex fault-block reservoir. Numerical simulation of the structural stress field reveals the distribution law and the evolvement progress of the three-period stress field from the end of the Dongying period to the Guantao period to nowadays. This article puts forward that the Linyi and Shanghe regions are the low value of the maximum main stress data. This is combined with the fault sealing history estimate, then multi-forming-reservoir in the central uplift is put forward. In the Shanghe oilfield, the article establishes six reservoir geological modes and three remaining oil distributing modes(the plane, the inside layer and the interlayer), then puts forward six increase production measure to enhance the remaining oil recovery ratio. Inducting the exploitation of oilfield, it wins notable economic effects and social effects.

丘陵油田三间房组储层三维地质模型和砂体预测

This paper is belonging to Chinese Petrochemical Corporation's science and technology project. Although it is difficult, it has important theoretical and practical value. The study was aimed to reveal inhomogeneity of two kinds of reservoirs of fan-shaped delta and braided river by using new theories, new methods and new technology about 3-D model building and reservoir knowledge repository throughout the world, and to build reservoir knowledge repository and 3-D geological model which would predict the type of sand body forming reason and distribution rule in order to improve exploration result in Qiuling oil fields. Multi-discipline theories such as petroleum structure geology, reservoir geology, petroleum geology, sequence geology, logging geology, geomathematics and so on are used as guide. The information of geology, seism, logging and production test is combined. Outcrop area and overlap area are combined. By making full use of computer, stable structure, reservoir geometric shape, spatial distribution and inhomogeneity of bed of interest are investigated, described and characterized. Petroleum pool 3-D static geological model of reservoir knowledge repository was built. Sand body distribution was predicted. It has guided oil development, lowed the investment and improved development benefits. Several results are achieved as follows: (1) Strata framework of Sanjianfang group in Qiuling oil field has been established. (2) Geometric shape, spatial distribution and evolve rule of two different forming reason's reservoir of fan-shaped delta and braided river of Sanjianfang group in Qiuling oil field are discussed. (3) The two kinds of reservoirs have lower pore and permeability and very strong inhomogeneity. (4) Reservoir knowledge repository of two different forming reasons has been built of Sanjianfang group, which includes 5 geological knowledge sublibrary. (5) 3-D geological model of two kinds of forming reason's reservoirs has been built. (6) That same sequence instruction a simulation and probability field were used to predict sand body of Sanjianfang group was put forward. Coincidence rate is high after production test. It shows this method has great popularity value. (7) A set of theories, methods and technologies of knowledge repository of two kinds of reservoir of braided river and fan-shaped delta and 3-D geological model building were finished. (8) A set of theories, methods and technologies of investigating, describing, characterizing and predicting two kinds of oil pool were developed. It gets noticeable economic benefit after exploration. Theory and method about extrusion basin are developed.

Theory of Handwriting

Handwriting production is viewed as a constrained modulation of an underlying oscillatory process. Coupled oscillations in horizontal and vertical directions produce letter forms, and when superimposed on a rightward constant velocity horizontal sweep result in spatially separated letters. Modulation of the vertical oscillation is responsible for control of letter height, either through altering the frequency or altering the acceleration amplitude. Modulation of the horizontal oscillation is responsible for control of corner shape through altering phase or amplitude. The vertical velocity zero crossing in the velocity space diagram is important from the standpoint of control. Changing the horizontal velocity value at this zero crossing controls corner shape, and such changes can be effected through modifying the horizontal oscillation amplitude and phase. Changing the slope at this zero crossing controls writing slant; this slope depends on the horizontal and vertical velocity zero amplitudes and on the relative phase difference. Letter height modulation is also best applied at the vertical velocity zero crossing to preserve an even baseline. The corner shape and slant constraints completely determine the amplitude and phase relations between the two oscillations. Under these constraints interletter separation is not an independent parameter. This theory applies generally to a number of acceleration oscillation patterns such as sinusoidal, rectangular and trapezoidal oscillations. The oscillation theory also provides an explanation for how handwriting might degenerate with speed. An implementation of the theory in the context of the spring muscle model is developed. Here sinusoidal oscillations arise from a purely mechanical sources; orthogonal antagonistic spring pairs generate particular cycloids depending on the initial conditions. Modulating between cycloids can be achieved by changing the spring zero settings at the appropriate times. Frequency can be modulated either by shifting between coactivation and alternating activation of the antagonistic springs or by presuming variable spring constant springs. An acceleration and position measuring apparatus was developed for measurements of human handwriting. Measurements of human writing are consistent with the oscillation theory. It is shown that the minimum energy movement for the spring muscle is bang-coast-bang. For certain parameter values a singular arc solution can be shown to be minimizing. Experimental measurements however indicate that handwriting is not a minimum energy movement.

Household Health and Cocoa Production: A Baseline Survey of Smallholder Farming Households in Western Region, Ghana

Background Chronic illness and premature mortality from malaria, water-borne diseases, and respiratory illnesses have long been known to diminish the welfare of individuals and households in developing countries. Previous research has also shown that chronic diseases among farming populations suppress labor productivity and agricultural output. As the illness and death toll from HIV/AIDS continues to climb in most of sub-Saharan Africa, concern has arisen that the loss of household labor it causes will reduce crop yields, impoverish farming households, intensify malnutrition, and suppress growth in the agricultural sector. If chronic morbidity and premature mortality among individuals in farming households have substantial impacts on household production, and if a large number of households are affected, it is possible that an increase in morbidity and mortality from HIV/AIDS or other diseases could affect national aggregate output and exports. If, on the other hand, the impact at the household farm level is modest, or if relatively few households are affected, there is likely to be little effect on aggregate production across an entire country. Which of these outcomes is more likely in West Africa is unknown. Little rigorous, quantitative research has been published on the impacts of AIDS on smallholder farm production, particularly in West Africa. The handful of studies that have been conducted have looked mainly at small populations in areas of very high HIV prevalence in southern and eastern Africa. Conclusions about how HIV/AIDS, and other causes of chronic morbidity and mortality, are affecting agriculture across the continent cannot be drawn from these studies. In view of the importance of agriculture, and particularly smallholder agriculture, in the economies of most African countries and the scarcity of resources for health interventions, it is valuable to identify, describe, and quantify the impact of chronic morbidity and mortality on smallholder production of important crops in West Africa. One such crop is cocoa. In Ghana, cocoa is a crop of national importance that is produced almost exclusively by smallholder households. In 2003, Ghana was the world’s second-largest producer of cocoa. Cocoa accounted for a quarter of Ghana’s export revenues that year and generated 15 percent of employment. The success and growth of the cocoa industry is thus vital to the country’s overall social and economic development. Study Objectives and Methods In February and March 2005, the Center for International Health and Development of Boston University (CIHD) and the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness (DAEA) of the University of Ghana, with financial support from the Africa Bureau of the U.S. Agency for International Development and from Mars, Inc., which is a major purchaser of West African cocoa, conducted a survey of a random sample of cocoa farming households in the Western Region of Ghana. The survey documented the extent of chronic morbidity and mortality in cocoa growing households in the Western Region of Ghana, the country’s largest cocoa growing region, and analyzed the impact of morbidity and mortality on cocoa production. It aimed to answer three specific research questions. (1) What is the baseline status of the study population in terms of household size and composition, acute and chronic morbidity, recent mortality, and cocoa production? (2) What is the relationship between household size and cocoa production, and how can this relationship be used to understand the impact of adult mortality and chronic morbidity on the production of cocoa at the household level? The study population was the approximately 42,000 cocoa farming households in the southern part of Ghana’s Western Region. A random sample of households was selected from a roster of eligible households developed from existing administrative information. Under the supervision of the University of Ghana field team, enumerators were graduate students of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness or employees of the Cocoa Services Division. A total of 632 eligible farmers participated in the survey. Of these, 610 provided complete responses to all questions needed to complete the multivariate statistical analysis reported here.

Learning and Production of Movement Sequences: Behavioral, Neurophysiological, and Modeling Perspectives

A growing wave of behavioral studies, using a wide variety of paradigms that were introduced or greatly refined in recent years, has generated a new wealth of parametric observations about serial order behavior. What was a mere trickle of neurophysiological studies has grown to a more steady stream of probes of neural sites and mechanisms underlying sequential behavior. Moreover, simulation models of serial behavior generation have begun to open a channel to link cellular dynamics with cognitive and behavioral dynamics. Here we summarize the major results from prominent sequence learning and performance tasks, namely immediate serial recall, typing, 2XN, discrete sequence production, and serial reaction time. These populate a continuum from higher to lower degrees of internal control of sequential organization. The main movement classes covered are speech and keypressing, both involving small amplitude movements that are very amenable to parametric study. A brief synopsis of classes of serial order models, vis-à-vis the detailing of major effects found in the behavioral data, leads to a focus on competitive queuing (CQ) models. Recently, the many behavioral predictive successes of CQ models have been joined by successful prediction of distinctively patterend electrophysiological recordings in prefrontal cortex, wherein parallel activation dynamics of multiple neural ensembles strikingly matches the parallel dynamics predicted by CQ theory. An extended CQ simulation model-the N-STREAMS neural network model-is then examined to highlight issues in ongoing attemptes to accomodate a broader range of behavioral and neurophysiological data within a CQ-consistent theory. Important contemporary issues such as the nature of working memory representations for sequential behavior, and the development and role of chunks in hierarchial control are prominent throughout.

The importance of interaction strength for food web dynamics and ecosystem functioning

Global biodiversity is eroding at an alarming rate, through a combination of anthropogenic disturbance and environmental change. Ecological communities are bewildering in their complexity. Experimental ecologists strive to understand the mechanisms that drive the stability and structure of these complex communities in a bid to inform nature conservation and management. Two fields of research have had high profile success at developing theories related to these stabilising structures and testing them through controlled experimentation. Biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) research has explored the likely consequences of biodiversity loss on the functioning of natural systems and the provision of important ecosystem services. Empirical tests of BEF theory often consist of simplified laboratory and field experiments, carried out on subsets of ecological communities. Such experiments often overlook key information relating to patterns of interactions, important relationships, and fundamental ecosystem properties. The study of multi-species predator-prey interactions has also contributed much to our understanding of how complex systems are structured, particularly through the importance of indirect effects and predator suppression of prey populations. A growing number of studies describe these complex interactions in detailed food webs, which encompass all the interactions in a community. This has led to recent calls for an integration of BEF research with the comprehensive study of food web properties and patterns, to help elucidate the mechanisms that allow complex communities to persist in nature. This thesis adopts such an approach, through experimentation at Lough Hyne marine reserve, in southwest Ireland. Complex communities were allowed to develop naturally in exclusion cages, with only the diversity of top trophic levels controlled. Species removals were carried out and the resulting changes to predator-prey interactions, ecosystem functioning, food web properties, and stability were studied in detail. The findings of these experiments contribute greatly to our understanding of the stability and structure of complex natural communities.

The political and economic context of Keynes’s 1933 Finlay lecture: transforming a business practitioner’s ways of knowing

This thesis is structured in the format of a three part Portfolio of Exploration to facilitate transformation in my ways of knowing to enhance an experienced business practitioner’s capabilities and effectiveness. A key factor in my ways of knowing, as opposed to what I know, is my exploration of context and assumptions. By interacting with my cultural, intellectual, economic, and social history, I seek to become critically aware of the biographical, historical, and cultural context of my beliefs and feelings about myself. This Portfolio is not exclusively for historians of economics or historians of ideas but also for those interested in becoming more aware of how these culturally assimilated frames of reference and bundles of assumptions that influence the way they perceive, think, decide, feel and interpret their experiences in order to operate more effectively in their professional and organisational lives. In the first part of my Portfolio, I outline and reflect upon my Portfolio’s overarching theory of adult development; the writings of Harvard’s Robert Kegan and Columbia University’s Jack Mezirow. The second part delves further into how meaning-making, the activity of how one organises and makes sense of the world and how meaning-making evolves to different levels of complexity. I explore how past experience and our interpretations of history influences our understandings since all perception is inevitably tinged with bias and entrenched ‘theory-laden’ assumptions. In my third part, I explore the 1933 inaugural University College Dublin Finlay Lecture delivered by economist John Maynard Keynes. My findings provide a new perspective and understanding of Keynes’s 1933 lecture by not solely reading or relying upon the text of the three contextualised essay versions of his lecture. The purpose and context of Keynes’s original longer lecture version was quite different to the three shorter essay versions published for the American, British and German audiences.

La régulation de la production des entreprises ayant une activité saisonnière

info:eu-repo/semantics/published

A theory of buyer-seller networks

This paper introduces a new model of exchange: networks, rather than markets, of buyers and sellers. It begins with the empirically motivated premise that a buyer and seller must have a relationship, a "link," to exchange goods. Networks - buyers, sellers, and the pattern of links connecting them - are common exchange environments. This paper develops a methodology to study network structures and explains why agents may form networks. In a model that captures characteristics of a variety of industries, the paper shows that buyers and sellers, acting strategically in their own self-interests, can form the network structures that maximize overall welfare.

Impact of economic, regulatory, and patent policies on innovation in cancer chemoprevention.

Chemoprevention agents are an emerging new scientific area that holds out the promise of delaying or avoiding a number of common cancers. These new agents face significant scientific, regulatory, and economic barriers, however, which have limited investment in their research and development (R&D). These barriers include above-average clinical trial scales, lengthy time frames between discovery and Food and Drug Administration approval, liability risks (because they are given to healthy individuals), and a growing funding gap for early-stage candidates. The longer time frames and risks associated with chemoprevention also cause exclusivity time on core patents to be limited or subject to significant uncertainties. We conclude that chemoprevention uniquely challenges the structure of incentives embodied in the economic, regulatory, and patent policies for the biopharmaceutical industry. Many of these policy issues are illustrated by the recently Food and Drug Administration-approved preventive agents Gardasil and raloxifene. Our recommendations to increase R&D investment in chemoprevention agents include (a) increased data exclusivity times on new biological and chemical drugs to compensate for longer gestation periods and increasing R&D costs; chemoprevention is at the far end of the distribution in this regard; (b) policies such as early-stage research grants and clinical development tax credits targeted specifically to chemoprevention agents (these are policies that have been very successful in increasing R&D investment for orphan drugs); and (c) a no-fault liability insurance program like that currently in place for children's vaccines.

Agronomic and economic viability of Miscanthus x giganteus as a novel biofuel in the Maryland climate

Gemstone Team Biofuels

Economic and Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains and Industrial Clusters: Why Governance Matters

© 2014, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.The burgeoning literature on global value chains (GVCs) has recast our understanding of how industrial clusters are shaped by their ties to the international economy, but within this context, the role played by corporate social responsibility (CSR) continues to evolve. New research in the past decade allows us to better understand how CSR is linked to industrial clusters and GVCs. With geographic production and trade patterns in many industries becoming concentrated in the global South, lead firms in GVCs have been under growing pressure to link economic and social upgrading in more integrated forms of CSR. This is leading to a confluence of “private governance” (corporate codes of conduct and monitoring), “social governance” (civil society pressure on business from labor organizations and non-governmental organizations), and “public governance” (government policies to support gains by labor groups and environmental activists). This new form of “synergistic governance” is illustrated with evidence from recent studies of GVCs and industrial clusters, as well as advances in theorizing about new patterns of governance in GVCs and clusters.

Global value Chains, rising power firms and economic and social upgrading

© Emerald Group Publishing Limited.Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the global value chain (GVC) approach to understand the relationship between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and the changing patterns of global trade, investment and production, and its impact on economic and social upgrading. It aims to illuminate how GVCs can advance our understanding about MNEs and rising power (RP) firms and their impact on economic and social upgrading in fragmented and dispersed global production systems. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews theGVCliterature focusing on two conceptual elements of the GVC approach, governance and upgrading, and highlights three key recent developments in GVCs: concentration, regionalization and synergistic governance. Findings – The paper underscores the complicated role of GVCs in shaping economic and social upgrading for emerging economies, RP firms and developing country firms in general. Rising geographic and organizational concentration in GVCs leads to the uneven distribution of upgrading opportunities in favor of RP firms, and yet economic upgrading may be elusive even for the most established suppliers because of power asymmetry with global buyers. Shifting end markets and the regionalization of value chains can benefit RP firms by presenting alternative markets for upgrading. Yet, without further upgrading, such benefits may be achieved at the expense of social downgrading. Finally, the ineffectiveness of private standards to achieve social upgrading has led to calls for synergistic governance through the cooperation of private, public and social actors, both global and local. Originality/value – The paper illuminates how the GVC approach and its key concepts can contribute to the critical international business and RP firms literature by examining the latest dynamics in GVCs and their impacts on economic and social development in developing countries.