os determinantes do processo decisório da firma entre verticalizar a produção em mais de um país ou subcontratar…

The last decade was characterized by both the rising importance of global value chains (GVCs) in international trade and the parallel proliferation of preferential trade agreements. Making a connection between the two phenomena seems paradoxical at first, since the global nature of value chains should encourage multilateral rather than bilateral or plurilateral negotiations. However, the strong nexus of trade and investment and the complex structure inherent in GVCs presents the World Trade Organization with a serious institutional challenge and thus gives rise to a “demand for new forms of governance”. The rising importance of trade-related dimensions such as competition, investment and intellectual property rights, which are not sufficiently addressed at the multilateral level from a GVC perspective, reveals the lack of institutions, regulations and mechanisms to deal with such “behind-the-border” issues.