Analyzing the Global Apparel Governance in the Garment Industry at QIZs in Jordan : An Applied Study in Economic Geography

Abstract

The contemporary world economy is characterized through division of

labor and production which are embedded in the so called “commodity value

chain.” The emergence of “Export Processing Zones” (EPZs) worldwide

could be seen as a result of such development.

The evaluation of such zones and their effects on national economies

are identified in two different discourses: the first one stresses the role of

“global value chains” in enabling the developing countries to integrate

themselves in the world economy and to benefit from technology transfer,

export and to generate jobs and eliminate unemployment. The second one

is based on the economic asymmetry between developed and developing

countries especially in the distribution of the production stages equally.

Leading firms in the industrial states maintain the more value added stages

in their hands and give the less important and labor intensive stages to

developing countries. These in turn run a hard competition which leads to

low labor wages prices.

Jordan joined the global value chains through the QIZ as a result of

the peace treaty with Israel. The apparel industry is the prevailing ones and

belong to either to South Asian Companies or to Jordanian. In both cases

Jordanians undertake marginal production steps.

This study is aiming at analyzing of global apparel governance in the

garment industry in QIZs and to shed light on its structure and its economic

effects. To achieve such target, 65 industrial companies have been investigated

in the QIZs.

The main results of the study show that there are many formes of

governance in garment industry, and all these forms are low added values.