In addition, value chain analysis disintegrates commodity production into discrete stages – from product design to raw material acquisition to retail – to identify
where high value activities are located and how they can govern the activities in the
lower-value regions (Gereffi et al. 2005). In practical terms, this means
interviewing every type of worker involved in the project to determine how they
benefited from project participation; their salary and method of compensation and
their complaints or sources of joy and pride in their work.
The organizing idea for value chain scholars is that “disintegrated production”
can explain the unintended phenomena of immiserizing growth, i.e. economic
growth accompanied by increased inequality (Bhagwati 1968). Importantly, high
value activities are characterized as having high entry barriers – in the case of the
carbon market the largest barrier to entry is technical understanding of an opaque
and highly complex commodification process (Bair and Gereffi 2001). Low value
activities have low-entry barriers. Consequentially, the lower rungs are subject to
excess labor supply resulting in competitive pressure on wages and output. It
follows that increased productivity and employment can result in diminishing
economic returns for low-value activities in the chain.
Given that the carbon market was created under the Kyoto Protocol to simultaneously reduce global greenhouse gas emissions at their point of least cost while
also stimulating technology transfer and development revenue by integrating
developing countries into the global marketplace for green technologies, value
chain analysis is a well-tailored tool to assess how geographical position and
asset accumulation relate within the carbon offset context. By mapping the different
pathways for economic accumulation for a patronage and a partnership style carbon
project, value chain analysis can show how and how much the distribution system
actually matters.
12.4 Case Study Attributes
Cambodia is a newly graduated lower-income developing country in Southeast
Asia, which was a Least Developing Country prior to 2016 when the fieldwork was
conducted. It has a population of 14, 864,646 and an average income of $ 2.59 USD
per day. Eighty percent of the population lives in rural conditions, and 75 % of all
households lack access to grid-powered electricity (GACC 2015). Cambodia suffers from one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, in part due to the fact
that over 80 % of Cambodians rely on wood and charcoal for their daily cooking
and water boiling needs. While charcoal is officially banned from use, it is the de
facto fuel source of choice, and its consumption alongside woodfuel accounts for
more than 4.7 million tonnes of forest mass consumed annually just for domestic
cooking (Nexus 2015). The economic conditions and the degree of environmental
degradation within Cambodia have made it an attractive host for carbon market
investments, and as such three national programs to distribute water filters,
12 Unpacking the Black Box of Technology Distribution, Development Potential. . .
223
where high value activities are located and how they can govern the activities in the
lower-value regions (Gereffi et al. 2005). In practical terms, this means
interviewing every type of worker involved in the project to determine how they
benefited from project participation; their salary and method of compensation and
their complaints or sources of joy and pride in their work.
The organizing idea for value chain scholars is that “disintegrated production”
can explain the unintended phenomena of immiserizing growth, i.e. economic
growth accompanied by increased inequality (Bhagwati 1968). Importantly, high
value activities are characterized as having high entry barriers – in the case of the
carbon market the largest barrier to entry is technical understanding of an opaque
and highly complex commodification process (Bair and Gereffi 2001). Low value
activities have low-entry barriers. Consequentially, the lower rungs are subject to
excess labor supply resulting in competitive pressure on wages and output. It
follows that increased productivity and employment can result in diminishing
economic returns for low-value activities in the chain.
Given that the carbon market was created under the Kyoto Protocol to simultaneously reduce global greenhouse gas emissions at their point of least cost while
also stimulating technology transfer and development revenue by integrating
developing countries into the global marketplace for green technologies, value
chain analysis is a well-tailored tool to assess how geographical position and
asset accumulation relate within the carbon offset context. By mapping the different
pathways for economic accumulation for a patronage and a partnership style carbon
project, value chain analysis can show how and how much the distribution system
actually matters.
12.4 Case Study Attributes
Cambodia is a newly graduated lower-income developing country in Southeast
Asia, which was a Least Developing Country prior to 2016 when the fieldwork was
conducted. It has a population of 14, 864,646 and an average income of $ 2.59 USD
per day. Eighty percent of the population lives in rural conditions, and 75 % of all
households lack access to grid-powered electricity (GACC 2015). Cambodia suffers from one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, in part due to the fact
that over 80 % of Cambodians rely on wood and charcoal for their daily cooking
and water boiling needs. While charcoal is officially banned from use, it is the de
facto fuel source of choice, and its consumption alongside woodfuel accounts for
more than 4.7 million tonnes of forest mass consumed annually just for domestic
cooking (Nexus 2015). The economic conditions and the degree of environmental
degradation within Cambodia have made it an attractive host for carbon market
investments, and as such three national programs to distribute water filters,
12 Unpacking the Black Box of Technology Distribution, Development Potential. . .
223