Harnessing Global Value Chains for Regional Development

How to Upgrade through Regional Policy, FDI and Trade

The 2023 Regional Studies Policy Impact Book by Riccardo Crescenzi and Oliver Harman, with its reviews, the policy documents that cite it, and the governments and agencies that have used it.
Cover of Harnessing Global Value Chains for Regional Development
Routledge, 2023

Riccardo Crescenzi and I wrote this book for the people who have to make regional policy decisions. It asks what a region can realistically do about its position in global production, and it works through the levers a regional government holds, which are its own policy, the foreign investment it attracts and the trade it carries. Routledge published it in 2023 in the Regional Studies Policy Impact Book series, and the overview chapter is open access.

Since publication the book has been reviewed in three journals and in the financial press, cited in policy documents from the World Bank, the OECD and the United Nations, used in evidence to two House of Commons committees and to the Harrington Review, and worked through with investment promotion agencies in Asia, Africa and Europe. What follows is that record, drawn from the book’s impact and engagement report of May 2025.

Book  ·  Overview chapter, open access  ·  Chapter 2, author’s version  ·  Associated materials  ·  doi:10.4324/9781003356141

Reviews

Crescenzi and Harman have crafted an important work that bridges theory with actionable insights, offering a roadmap for regions keen on leveraging GVCs for sustainable growth.

Ricardo Hausmann, Harvard Kennedy School, in Regional Studies

A book that does a great job presenting the opportunities of GVC integration. It is highly valuable, not only for policy makers but also for researchers and students.

Sören Scholvin, University of Cologne, in Economic Geography (2023)

The book provides tools and insights for policy-makers to navigate the changing landscape of value chains and regional development.

Syahputra Rambe, Sulistiani and Rambasae, in European Planning Studies (2024)

The Financial Times’ fDi Intelligence reviewed the book as a new template for regions to harness global value chains, and LSE listed it among its recommended reads for understanding the economy today.

Cited in policy documents

The documents below cite the book or the working draft that preceded it. The list comes from the book’s impact report and from Overton, and was last added to in October 2026.

Evidence to parliaments and reviews

  • House of Commons International Trade Committee Written evidence on inward foreign direct investment, drawn on in the committee’s report and its recommendations to government Evidence Committee report

  • House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee Written and oral evidence drawing on the book Written evidence Oral evidence session

  • Harrington Review of Foreign Direct Investment Written evidence drawing on the book Review report

Used by governments and agencies

  • Investment promotion agencies Presented to the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority, Indonesia’s investment promotion centre, Madrid Investment Attraction, and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority with MATRADE and the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry. Research has continued out of several of those discussions.

  • Urban Unit, Punjab, Pakistan The unit’s chief executive described wanting to map where value chains and their suppliers sit in Lahore, following one of the book’s recommendations

  • Zanzibar Research Centre for Socio-Economic and Policy Analysis A policy brief written from the book for a roundtable at the African School of Economics in Zanzibar, which grew into our 2026 paper on upgrading in Zanzibar

  • Ministries across West and East Africa A presentation on infrastructure for African integration into global value chains, to officials from the ministries responsible for economy, finance and trade in Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Senegal and Togo

  • Connected Places Catapult An applied toolkit for local governments in the North of England, Leveraging Opportunities from Global Value Chains for Regional Development

  • UNU-WIDER and the African Cities Research Consortium Findings presented at a workshop on African urbanisation and structural transformation

Events and talks

LSE has also run events on the book’s findings and their regional applications, including a South East Asia Forum session on leveraging foreign investment in Asia and a Canada Blanch Centre session on Latin America. The book was shown at the RSA stand during EU Regions Week, and the Regional Studies Association brought scholars together to discuss it in its Regions, Cities and Industry webinar series.

Media, podcasts and teaching materials

What global value chains are, and why they matter for regional development. Made with LSE Research.

Reach

  • Attention In the 82nd percentile of outputs of the same age on Altmetric, with the open-access overview chapter in the top quarter
  • Readership The most read chapter of any Regional Studies Policy Impact Book
  • As at May 2025, when the impact and engagement report was last compiled

Impact from the book is also tracked on the LSE Global Investments and Local Development blog.