This article asks whether and how local firms in low-income countries can participate, upgrade and capture value in apparel global value chains in the context of increased entry barriers and asymmetric power relations. It focuses on Madagascar, which is the top apparel exporter in Sub-Saharan Africa and one where there is a significant number of local firms. The article examines the capability-building processes of local firms, which are the basis for upgrading paths and broader sector development. We do this by combining conceptual insights from the Technological Capabilities literature with the conjunctural approach to Global Value Chains and Global Production Networks. Based on extensive fieldwork in Madagascar’s apparel export sector, the article explains how the relational, local and regional assets that local firms can leverage in building technological capabilities influence their choices with regards to export strategies and their upgrading paths. In turn, these assets are linked to different types of local ownership, and they emerge through historical legacies and the national socio-economic context, which give rise to specific transnational social relations, as well as through regional economic formations and global value chain dynamics.

本文探讨了在收入壁垒不断增加和权力关系不对称的情况下，低收入国家的本地企业是否以及如何参与，提升和获取服装全球价值链中的价值。它着重于马达加斯加，马达加斯加是撒哈拉以南非洲地区最大的服装出口国，也是当地企业数量众多的国家之一。本文探讨了本地公司的能力建设过程，这是升级路径和扩大部门发展的基础。为此，我们将技术能力文献中的概念见解与对全球价值链和全球生产网络的联合方法相结合。本文基于马达加斯加服装出口部门的广泛实地调查，阐述了如何进行关系分析，本地公司可用来建设技术能力的本地和区域资产会影响他们在出口战略和升级路径方面的选择。反过来，这些资产与不同类型的地方所有权相关联，它们是通过历史遗产和国家社会经济背景出现的，这些历史遗产和国家社会经济背景形成了特定的跨国社会关系，以及区域经济结构和全球价值链动态。