How do we define value chains and production networks?

This article is intended to contribute to the process of building a set of tools that will help advance the debate on the shape and trajectory of glob al economic integration. The article uses a 'value-chain' approach to const ruct a set of conceptual terms and concepts intended to better specify the concrete actors in the global economy as well as the linkages that bind the m into a larger whole. I propose a set of terms and concepts that specify t hree critical value chain dimensions: organizational scale, geographic scal e and types of value chain productive actors. The article also lays out a d istinction between value chains and production networks.