Department of Management, Society and Communication

I am interested in understanding processes of economic development and catch-up industrialization in the context of an ever changing global economy.

My research previously focused on the challenges and opportunities that Sub-Saharan African countries face in industrializing in the 21st century. It analysed the emergence and evolution of manufacturing and agribusiness industries, especially how local firms build capabilities to compete in global production networks and the roles of government industrial policy, foreign direct investment and transnational social networks/technical communities.

My current research examines how value is created and captured along global production networks by firms in a hiearchy of relations through the study of specific industries such as apparel, automobiles and microelectronics. In particular, it focuses on the advantages of incumbent firms and the barriers to entry that they create as necessary to understand how latecomer firms can enter, upgrade and capture more value in the global production networks that structure the global economy. In relation to this, my research also explores how changes in technologies related to achieving a global green transition create challenges to incumbent firms and opportunities for latecomer firms to move into new industries and capture greater value and the role of government industrial policies in supporting them to do so.

My future research aims to examine the extent to which geopolitical competition around being first movers in new green technologies can expedite a global green transition.