Publication: Turning Risks into Reward: Diversifying the Global Value Chains of Decarbonization Technologies
Loading...
Date
2024-02-07
ISSN
Published
2024-02-07
Author(s)
Rosenow, Samuel Kaspar
Editor(s)
Abstract
Reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 requires unprecedented scaling up in the global deployment of critical decarbonization technologies, such as solar photovoltaics, wind turbines, and electric vehicles (EVs). This challenge is currently rife with risks and rewards. With global pro-duction perceived to be concentrated in a small number of countries, mitigating against possible supply-side risks has become an urgent policy priority for many countries. At the same time, these technologies’ high-growth potential offer lucrative rewards for countries able to strategically position themselves to produce requisite materials, compo¬nents or assemble final products. As green industrial policies have become an increasingly popular tool for shoring up supply chains and stimulating production in key green sectors, this paper presents a data-driven framework for identifying which countries could have key strengths and latent comparative advantages in the production of solar PV, wind turbines and EVs. It constructs a new dataset of traded products, components, and materials associated with decarbonization technologies and develops new indices capturing countries’ current export strengths and future diversification potential in the global value chains of these technologies. It also highlights products with supply risks due to high market concentration levels and those with development rewards in terms of their potential for growth, knowledge spillovers, and technological upgrading. Our analysis suggests that there is plenty of opportunity to diversify these value chains across a larger number of countries and reduce risks associated with reliance on only a few countries.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Rosenow, Samuel Kaspar; Mealy, Penny. 2024. Turning Risks into Reward: Diversifying the Global Value Chains of Decarbonization Technologies. Policy Research Working Paper; 10696. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/41024 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Publication Disentangling the Key Economic Channels through Which Infrastructure Affects Jobs(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-03)This paper takes stock of the literature on infrastructure and jobs published since the early 2000s, using a conceptual framework to identify the key channels through which different types of infrastructure impact jobs. Where relevant, it highlights the different approaches and findings in the cases of energy, digital, and transport infrastructure. Overall, the literature review provides strong evidence of infrastructure’s positive impact on employment, particularly for women. In the case of electricity, this impact arises from freeing time that would otherwise be spent on household tasks. Similarly, digital infrastructure, particularly mobile phone coverage, has demonstrated positive labor market effects, often driven by private sector investments rather than large public expenditures, which are typically required for other large-scale infrastructure projects. The evidence on structural transformation is also positive, with some notable exceptions, such as studies that find no significant impact on structural transformation in rural India in the cases of electricity and roads. Even with better market connections, remote areas may continue to lack economic opportunities, due to the absence of agglomeration economies and complementary inputs such as human capital. Accordingly, reducing transport costs alone may not be sufficient to drive economic transformation in rural areas. The spatial dimension of transformation is particularly relevant for transport, both internationally—by enhancing trade integration—and within countries, where economic development tends to drive firms and jobs toward urban centers, benefitting from economies scale and network effects. Turning to organizational transformation, evidence on skill bias in developing countries is more mixed than in developed countries and may vary considerably by context. Further research, especially on the possible reasons explaining the differences between developed and developing economies, is needed.Publication Economic Consequences of Trade and Global Value Chain Integration(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2025-04-04)This paper introduces a new approach to measuring Global Value Chains (GVC), crucial for informed policy-making. It features a tripartite classification (backward, forward, and two-sided) covering trade and production data. The findings indicate that traditional trade-based GVC metrics significantly underestimate global GVC activity, especially in sectors like services and upstream manufacturing, and overstate risks in early trade liberalization stages. Additionally, conventional backward-forward classifications over-estimate backward linkages. The paper further applies these measures empirically to assess how GVC participation mediates the impact of demand shocks on domestic output, highlighting both the exposure and stabilizing potential of GVC integration. These new measures are comprehensively available on the World Bank’s WITS Platform, providing a key resource for GVC analysis.Publication Participation in Pension Programs in Low- and Middle-Income Countries(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-24)Low- and middle-income countries are aging rapidly but stagnation of growth in participation in pension programs, due to widespread informal employment, presents a major fiscal challenge. Some claim that improving the design of pension program rules can encourage more pension contributions, while others push for universal non-contributory pensions. This paper reviews the recent academic literature on the determinants of active participation in pension systems in high- informality settings. An emerging body of evidence shows that participation responds significantly to financial incentives as well as nonfinancial obstacles. At the same time, pensions are imperfect substitutes for other strategies to cover longevity risk, including support through the family, which will remain crucial for many older people in fiscally constrained environments. Therefore, policy makers should integrate the design of contributory pensions, social pensions, and policies that facilitate other forms of elderly support and consider how all three interact. To inform such efforts, these interactions must be more systematically investigated, and the empirical evidence must be expanded beyond a small number of middle-income countries.Publication Capitalizing on Digital Transformation to Enhance the Effectiveness of Property Institutions(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-14)Property registries have long been a pillar of state capacity and a basis for private market activity. While registry establishment and operation traditionally were costly and time consuming, digital technology makes low-cost registry operation and wide outreach easier. To guide developing countries aiming to establish such registries and measure progress, this paper develops indicators (in terms of digital coverage, interoperability, and property taxation for local service delivery and public land management) of effective digital registry service provision. Data from 85 countries highlight vast differences and provide suggestions for strategic reforms as well as a basis for measuring progress over time. Expanding geographical coverage and collecting these indicators on a regular basis could provide guidance to improve the way in which, by protecting property, the state creates the basis for widely shared prosperity and a livable environment.Publication Bridging the Gap(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-21)This paper examines tax revenue shortfalls in South Asian countries. On average during 2019–23, South Asian revenues totaled 18 percent of GDP—well below the average 24 percent among emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). Econometric estimates from stochastic frontier analysis, which control for tax rates and the size of potential tax bases, suggest that tax revenues in the region are 1 to 7 percentage points of GDP below potential, with shortfalls in five of the region’s eight countries larger than in the average EMDE. Even after controlling for country characteristics, such as widespread informal economic activity outside the tax net and large agriculture sectors, sizable tax gaps remain, suggesting the need for improved tax policy and administration. The paper discusses and provides evidence from international experience with reforms to raise government revenues.
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication The Macroeconomic Implications of a Transition to Zero Net Emissions(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-03)Analyzing the macroeconomic consequences of a transition to a net-zero economy creates specific modeling challenges, including those related to the non-marginal nature of the required transformation, the role of technologies, and the replacement of fossil fuel-based assets with greener ones. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a hybrid modeling approach that starts from a set of sectoral techno-economic scenarios to construct an illustrative resilient and net-zero decarbonization trajectory. It then assesses the macroeconomic implications by linking sectoral dynamics to two macroeconomic frameworks: a multisector general equilibrium framework and an aggregate macrostructural model. This approach combines the advantages of multiple tools and captures the various dimensions of the transition, including the need to tackle simultaneously multiple market failures beyond the carbon externality. The paper illustrates this methodology with Türkiye’s objective to reach net zero emissions by 2053. The multisector general equilibrium framework suggests that the transition could contribute positively to Türkiye’s economic growth despite the large investment needs, especially when indirect mitigation benefits are taken into account and if labor market frictions can be reduced. Improved energy efficiency in the transportation and building sectors drives the growth benefits in the short and medium terms. The growth benefits depend on how transition investments are financed: if they crowd out other productive investments, the benefits are significantly reduced and can even become slightly negative in the long term. The macrostructural model focuses on implications for public debt and the current account, using two extreme scenarios in which additional investments are triggered by higher productivity or a set of budget-neutral incentives (taxes and subsidies). The model concludes that the transition would have moderate impacts on the current account and public debt. With budget-neutral incentives, there is a small increase in gross domestic product (GDP) growth, the debt-to-GDP ratio increases by 1 to 3 percent, and the current account remains unchanged thanks to the reduction in fuel imports.Publication Regulatory and Financial Incentives for Scaling Up Concentrating Solar Power in Developing Countries(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-06)Concentrating solar thermal (CST) technologies have a clear potential for scaling up renewable energy at the utility level, thereby diversifying the generation portfolio mix, powering development, and mitigating climate change. A recent surge in demand for solar thermal power generation projects in several World Bank Group (WBG) partner countries shows that CST could indeed become an important renewable energy technology that would be able to provide an alternative to conventional thermal power generation based on the central utility model. At present, different CST technologies have reached varying degrees of commercial availability. This emerging nature of CST means that there are market and technical impediments to accelerating its acceptance, including cost competitiveness, an understanding of technology capability and limitations, intermittency, and benefits of electricity storage. Many developed and some developing countries are currently working to address these barriers in order to scale up CST-based power generation. Given the considerable growth of CST development in several WBG partner countries, there is a need to assess the recent experience of developed countries in designing and implementing regulatory frameworks and draw lesson that could facilitate the deployment of CST technologies in developing countries. Merely replicating developed countries' schemes in the context of a developing country may not generate the desired outcomes.Publication Concentrating Solar Power in Developing Countries : Regulatory and Financial Incentives for Scaling Up(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2012-06-28)Concentrating Solar Thermal power (CST) has a tremendous potential for scaling up renewable energy at the utility level, diversifying the generation portfolio mix, powering development, and mitigating climate change. At present, different CST technologies have reached varying degrees of commercial availability. This emerging nature of CST means that there are market and technical impediments to accelerating its acceptance, including cost competitiveness, an understanding of technology capability and limitations, intermittency, and benefits of electricity storage. Many developed and some developing countries are currently working to address these barriers in order to scale up CST-based power generation. This report: a) analyzes and draws lessons from the efforts of some developed countries and adapts them to the characteristics of developing economies; b) assesses the cost reduction potential and economic and financial affordability of various technologies in emerging markets; c) evaluates the potential for cost reduction and associated economic benefits derived from local manufacturing; and d) suggests ways to tailor bidding models and practices, bid selection criteria, and structures for power purchase agreements (PPAs) for CST projects in developing market conditions. The report also presents a review of typical cost structures for parabolic trough and power tower plants, which was derived from projects developed or under preparation in Spain and the United States specifically for this report, and an in-depth assessment of the respective cost drivers.Publication Reality Check(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-19)To address the myriad challenges posed by global climate change, countries at all income levels have put in place a diverse set of policies over the past three decades. Many governments have already made significant progress in their efforts to decarbonize, creating a rich history of implementation experiences that provides important lessons for how to successfully advance climate policy goals in a variety of different economic, cultural, and political contexts. Despite this progress, the transition to a net zero future continues to face significant barriers, including the need for large investment, a lack of institutional capacity, and challenging political economy issues. ‘Reality Check: Lessons from 25 Policies Advancing a Low-Carbon Future’ identifies key policy approaches that countries are taking to decarbonize their economies. The report classifies policies into five categories: 1. Planning for a future with zero net emissions; 2. Getting the pricing and taxes right; 3. Facilitating and triggering transitions in key systems, such as energy and food; 4. Getting the finance flowing, particularly by incentivizing private sector investment; 5. Ensuring a just transition that protects the poor. ‘Reality Check: Lessons from 25 Policies Advancing a Low-Carbon Future’ fills a critical research gap by documenting low-carbon policy trends and providing a series of case studies across sectors and geographies. The 25 case studies furnish country contexts and policy details, examine results and impacts, and outline key takeaways and lessons learned for enabling further ambition in achieving emissions reductions. The report contributes to an evolving analytical agenda on how to reduce carbon emissions while achieving economic development and the strategic transition to a greener, more resilient, and more inclusive future.Publication Developments and Needs for Sustainable Agro-Logistics in Developing Countries(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-01)The Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Sustainable Logistics (MDTF-SL) aims at promoting innovative assistance projects that can break new grounds, test new ideas, and generate new knowledge for sustainable logistics that can be replicated in other countries and project. In November 2013 we were asked to write a position paper that analyses the state of affairs in Agro-Logistics. It aims to: (1) review and suggest a conceptual grounding for the MDTF-SL's activities; (2) outline the specific challenges developing countries face on Agro-Logistics; and (3) review existing attempts or interventions to meet the identified challenges. This position note starts with a definition for agro-logistics to have a mutual understanding of the concept. Section two presents emerging global trends and developments, which are then, translated to key logistics objectives in section three. Next, in section four, five international cases are presented that illustrate the needs and key bottlenecks in agro-logistics for developing countries. Section five presents an overview of potential interventions to improve logistics performances, resulting in recommendations (section six).
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Migration from Venezuela to Colombia(World Bank, Colombia, 2018-11-02)El presente análisis tiene como objetivo principal determinar los impactos sociales, sectoriales y económicos que la migración sostenida de personas desde Venezuela está teniendo en Colombia, particularmente en los principales municipios receptores. Esta migración sin precedentes está teniendo impactos significativos en las áreas receptoras, particularmente pronunciados por las difíciles condiciones socioeconómicas de los migrantes. Como consecuencia, la migración está poniendo presiones significativas en las instituciones, los sistemas de provisión de servicios, el mercado laboral y las dinámicas sociales de las áreas receptoras. En este contexto, el reporte ofrece opciones de política y programáticas para su adecuado manejo, basadas en buenas prácticas internacionales.Publication World Bank Annual Report 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-25)This annual report, which covers the period from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, has been prepared by the Executive Directors of both the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA)—collectively known as the World Bank—in accordance with the respective bylaws of the two institutions. Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, has submitted this report, together with the accompanying administrative budgets and audited financial statements, to the Board of Governors.Publication Global Economic Prospects, January 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-16)Global growth is expected to hold steady at 2.7 percent in 2025-26. However, the global economy appears to be settling at a low growth rate that will be insufficient to foster sustained economic development—with the possibility of further headwinds from heightened policy uncertainty and adverse trade policy shifts, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and climate-related natural disasters. Against this backdrop, emerging market and developing economies are set to enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century with per capita incomes on a trajectory that implies substantially slower catch-up toward advanced-economy living standards than they previously experienced. Without course corrections, most low-income countries are unlikely to graduate to middle-income status by the middle of the century. Policy action at both global and national levels is needed to foster a more favorable external environment, enhance macroeconomic stability, reduce structural constraints, address the effects of climate change, and thus accelerate long-term growth and development.Publication World Development Report 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-08-01)Middle-income countries are in a race against time. Many of them have done well since the 1990s to escape low-income levels and eradicate extreme poverty, leading to the perception that the last three decades have been great for development. But the ambition of the more than 100 economies with incomes per capita between US$1,100 and US$14,000 is to reach high-income status within the next generation. When assessed against this goal, their record is discouraging. Since the 1970s, income per capita in the median middle-income country has stagnated at less than a tenth of the US level. With aging populations, growing protectionism, and escalating pressures to speed up the energy transition, today’s middle-income economies face ever more daunting odds. To become advanced economies despite the growing headwinds, they will have to make miracles. Drawing on the development experience and advances in economic analysis since the 1950s, World Development Report 2024 identifies pathways for developing economies to avoid the “middle-income trap.” It points to the need for not one but two transitions for those at the middle-income level: the first from investment to infusion and the second from infusion to innovation. Governments in lower-middle-income countries must drop the habit of repeating the same investment-driven strategies and work instead to infuse modern technologies and successful business processes from around the world into their economies. This requires reshaping large swaths of those economies into globally competitive suppliers of goods and services. Upper-middle-income countries that have mastered infusion can accelerate the shift to innovation—not just borrowing ideas from the global frontiers of technology but also beginning to push the frontiers outward. This requires restructuring enterprise, work, and energy use once again, with an even greater emphasis on economic freedom, social mobility, and political contestability. Neither transition is automatic. The handful of economies that made speedy transitions from middle- to high-income status have encouraged enterprise by disciplining powerful incumbents, developed talent by rewarding merit, and capitalized on crises to alter policies and institutions that no longer suit the purposes they were once designed to serve. Today’s middle-income countries will have to do the same.Publication World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees, and Societies(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2023-04-25)Migration is a development challenge. About 184 million people—2.3 percent of the world’s population—live outside of their country of nationality. Almost half of them are in low- and middle-income countries. But what lies ahead? As the world struggles to cope with global economic imbalances, diverging demographic trends, and climate change, migration will become a necessity in the decades to come for countries at all levels of income. If managed well, migration can be a force for prosperity and can help achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. World Development Report 2023 proposes an innovative approach to maximize the development impacts of cross-border movements on both destination and origin countries and on migrants and refugees themselves. The framework it offers, drawn from labor economics and international law, rests on a “Match and Motive Matrix” that focuses on two factors: how closely migrants’ skills and attributes match the needs of destination countries and what motives underlie their movements. This approach enables policy makers to distinguish between different types of movements and to design migration policies for each. International cooperation will be critical to the effective management of migration.