Reshaping Global Value

The report analyzes how a "perfect storm" of three mega-trends—emerging technologies, the climate emergency, and shifting globalization—is reshaping global value chains (GVCs). It introduces the Strategic Value Framework, a tool for stakeholders to quantify risks and opportunities across five stages of value creation: extraction, processing, forming, assembly, and distribution. The analysis suggests a shift from "economies of scale" to "economies of skills," where value increasingly migrates toward downstream stages closer to the consumer. The report calls for proactive public-private partnerships to ensure an inclusive transition, particularly for developing countries and LDCs that risk being displaced by automation and reshoring.

• Global value chains (GVCs) are central to the world economy, representing more than two-thirds of global trade and serving as a primary driver for GDP growth and economic development.
• A "perfect storm" of three mega-trends is disrupting production systems: emerging technologies, the environmental sustainability imperative linked to the climate emergency, and the reconfiguration of globalization.
• Emerging technologies, including AI, robotics, IoT, and additive manufacturing (3D printing), are enabling companies to reshore production closer to consumers and reduce reliance on economies of scale.
• The climate emergency disrupts GVCs by increasing supply risks, affecting resource availability, and forcing the internalization of environmental costs through taxes and regulations, which tends to shorten supply chains.
• Globalization is being reconfigured as international trade intensity slows, demand shifts toward emerging markets in the Global South, and trade tensions lead to increased restrictive measures by G20 countries.
• Technological advances and automation risk exacerbating global inequality, as low-skilled workers—particularly women in sectors like garment manufacturing—are more vulnerable to displacement.
• The Strategic Value Framework analyzes GVCs through three pillars: the economic value pool (revenues, profitability, net profits), geographic concentration of supply, and structural characteristics (e.g., labor costs, innovation intensiveness).
• Analysis of GVC use cases indicates that value-add is increasingly shifting toward downstream stages closer to the end consumer, and that innovation is overtaking economies of scale as the primary determinant of value.
• The report identifies three key imperatives for the future: shifting from factor costs to customer voice on the demand side, moving from economies of scale to "economies of skills" on the supply side, and transforming production from a "cost centre" to a "product centre."

APA

World Economic Forum (2019). Reshaping Global Value. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Reshaping_Global_Value_Report.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Reshaping Global Value. 2019. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Reshaping_Global_Value_Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Reshaping Global Value |date=September 2019 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Reshaping_Global_Value_Report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2019reshaping, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Reshaping Global Value}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2019}, month = sep, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Reshaping_Global_Value_Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }