IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/telpol/v48y2024i9s0308596124001320.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The role of blockchain for trade in global value chains: A systematic literature review and guidance for future research

Author

Listed:
  • Böhmecke-Schwafert, Moritz

Abstract

Blockchain technology has received increasing attention from academia, practitioners, and policymakers alike for its potential to disrupt business processes and structures of trade in global value chains (GVC). Amidst the ongoing digitization of economies and societies, blockchain holds promise for addressing unresolved challenges. However, current research on this topic primarily consists of either abstract conceptual work or case studies. To bridge this gap, our study conducts a systematic literature review, aiming to comprehensively explore and structure the realm of blockchain and its impact on international trade. Key research questions explored include: What role do blockchain innovations play in facilitating trade within GVC? Additionally, what are the primary barriers hindering the adoption of blockchain innovations in trade within GVC? Our main contribution lies in categorizing these applications into five distinct categories: Trade Documents; Trade Finance; Trusted Real-Time Information Sharing; Provenance; and Sustainable GVC. Contrary to portraying blockchain innovations as a panacea or universal solution, our findings highlight the technologies’ potential rather as a core technological infrastructure when integrated with complementary technologies such as the Internet of Things. Moreover, we identify 11 significant barriers to blockchain adoption in international trade, underscoring the need for concerted efforts to address them. From these insights, we derive implications for policymakers and practitioners, and propose avenues for future interdisciplinary research.

Suggested Citation

  • Böhmecke-Schwafert, Moritz, 2024. "The role of blockchain for trade in global value chains: A systematic literature review and guidance for future research," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:48:y:2024:i:9:s0308596124001320
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2024.102835
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308596124001320
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.telpol.2024.102835?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kembro, Joakim & Näslund, Dag & Olhager, Jan, 2017. "Information sharing across multiple supply chain tiers: A Delphi study on antecedents," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 77-86.
    2. Muqaddas Naz & Fahad A. Al-zahrani & Rabiya Khalid & Nadeem Javaid & Ali Mustafa Qamar & Muhammad Khalil Afzal & Muhammad Shafiq, 2019. "A Secure Data Sharing Platform Using Blockchain and Interplanetary File System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-24, December.
    3. William Nikolakis & Lijo John & Harish Krishnan, 2018. "How Blockchain Can Shape Sustainable Global Value Chains: An Evidence, Verifiability, and Enforceability (EVE) Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-16, October.
    4. Montecchi, Matteo & Plangger, Kirk & Etter, Michael, 2019. "It’s real, trust me! Establishing supply chain provenance using blockchain," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 283-293.
    5. Paul, Justin & Criado, Alex Rialp, 2020. "The art of writing literature review: What do we know and what do we need to know?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4).
    6. McDaniel, Christine & Norberg, Hanna, 2019. "Can Blockchain Technology Facilitate International Trade?," Annals of Computational Economics, George Mason University, Mercatus Center, April.
    7. Hackius, Niels & Petersen, Moritz, 2017. "Blockchain in logistics and supply chain: Trick or treat?," Chapters from the Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conference of Logistics (HICL), in: Kersten, Wolfgang & Blecker, Thorsten & Ringle, Christian M. (ed.), Digitalization in Supply Chain Management and Logistics: Smart and Digital Solutions for an Industry 4.0 Environment. Proceedings of the Hamburg Inter, volume 23, pages 3-18, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute of Business Logistics and General Management.
    8. Vineet Paliwal & Shalini Chandra & Suneel Sharma, 2020. "Blockchain Technology for Sustainable Supply Chain Management: A Systematic Literature Review and a Classification Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-39, September.
    9. Gene M. Grossman & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2008. "Trading Tasks: A Simple Theory of Offshoring," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1978-1997, December.
    10. de Jesus, Ana & Mendonça, Sandro, 2018. "Lost in Transition? Drivers and Barriers in the Eco-innovation Road to the Circular Economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 75-89.
    11. Alaassar, Ahmad & Mention, Anne-Laure & Aas, Tor Helge, 2021. "Exploring a new incubation model for FinTechs: Regulatory sandboxes," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    12. Yanling Chang & Eleftherios Iakovou & Weidong Shi, 2020. "Blockchain in global supply chains and cross border trade: a critical synthesis of the state-of-the-art, challenges and opportunities," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(7), pages 2082-2099, April.
    13. Kshetri, Nir, 2018. "1 Blockchain’s roles in meeting key supply chain management objectives," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 80-89.
    14. David Moher & Alessandro Liberati & Jennifer Tetzlaff & Douglas G Altman & The PRISMA Group, 2009. "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-6, July.
    15. V.G. Venkatesh & K. Kang & B. Wang & R.Y. Zhong & A. Zhang, 2020. "System Architecture for Blockchain Based Transparency of Supply Chain Social Sustainability," Post-Print hal-04457147, HAL.
    16. Jesse Yli-Huumo & Deokyoon Ko & Sujin Choi & Sooyong Park & Kari Smolander, 2016. "Where Is Current Research on Blockchain Technology?—A Systematic Review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(10), pages 1-27, October.
    17. Moritz Böhmecke‐Schwafert & Marie Wehinger & Robin Teigland, 2022. "Blockchain for the circular economy: Theorizing blockchain's role in the transition to a circular economy through an empirical investigation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(8), pages 3786-3801, December.
    18. Albert Wee Kwan Tan & YiFei Zhao & Thomas Halliday, 2018. "A Blockchain Model for Less Container Load Operations in China," International Journal of Information Systems and Supply Chain Management (IJISSCM), IGI Global, vol. 11(2), pages 39-53, April.
    19. Böhmecke-Schwafert, Moritz & García Moreno, Eduardo, 2023. "Exploring blockchain-based innovations for economic and sustainable development in the global south: A mixed-method approach based on web mining and topic modeling," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    20. Liu, Zhiyong & Li, Zipei, 2020. "A blockchain-based framework of cross-border e-commerce supply chain," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    21. Pilkington Marc, 2016. "Blockchain Technology: Principles and Applications," Post-Print halshs-01231205, HAL.
    22. Christian Catalini & Joshua S. Gans, 2016. "Some Simple Economics of the Blockchain," NBER Working Papers 22952, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. L.A. Risso & G.M.D. Ganga & Moacir Godinho Filho & L.A.D. Santa-Eulalia & T. Chikhi & E. Mosconi, 2023. "Present and Future Perspectives of Blockchain in Supply Chain Management: A Review of Reviews and Research Agenda," Post-Print hal-04277174, HAL.
    24. Yanhu Han & Xiao Fang, 2024. "Systematic review of adopting blockchain in supply chain management: bibliometric analysis and theme discussion," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(3), pages 991-1016, February.
    25. Christine Arriola & Charles Cadestin & Przemyslaw Kowalski & Joaquim José Martins Guilhoto & Sébastien Miroudot & Frank van Tongeren, 2023. "Challenges to international trade and the global economy: Recovery from COVID-19 and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine," OECD Trade Policy Papers 265, OECD Publishing.
    26. Gniniguè, Moukpè & Wonyra, Kwami Ossadzifo & Tchagnao, Abdou-Fataou & Bayale, Nimonka, 2023. "Participation of developing countries in global value chains: What role for information and communication technologies?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(3).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kouhizadeh, Mahtab & Saberi, Sara & Sarkis, Joseph, 2021. "Blockchain technology and the sustainable supply chain: Theoretically exploring adoption barriers," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    2. Ulpan Tokkozhina & Ana Lucia Martins & Joao C. Ferreira, 2023. "Uncovering dimensions of the impact of blockchain technology in supply chain management," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 99-125, March.
    3. Böhmecke-Schwafert, Moritz & García Moreno, Eduardo, 2023. "Exploring blockchain-based innovations for economic and sustainable development in the global south: A mixed-method approach based on web mining and topic modeling," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    4. Vineet Paliwal & Shalini Chandra & Suneel Sharma, 2020. "Blockchain Technology for Sustainable Supply Chain Management: A Systematic Literature Review and a Classification Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-39, September.
    5. Taab Ahmad Samad & Rohit Sharma & Kunal K Ganguly & Samuel Fosso Wamba & Geetika Jain, 2023. "Enablers to the adoption of blockchain technology in logistics supply chains: evidence from an emerging economy," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 327(1), pages 251-291, August.
    6. Severin Bonnet & Frank Teuteberg, 2023. "Impact of blockchain and distributed ledger technology for the management, protection, enforcement and monetization of intellectual property: a systematic literature review," Information Systems and e-Business Management, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 229-275, June.
    7. Md Al Amin & Dewan Hafiz Nabil & Roberto Baldacci & Md. Habibur Rahman, 2023. "Exploring Blockchain Implementation Challenges for Sustainable Supply Chains: An Integrated Fuzzy TOPSIS–ISM Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-25, September.
    8. Zhu, Qingyun & Bai, Chunguang & Sarkis, Joseph, 2022. "Blockchain technology and supply chains: The paradox of the atheoretical research discourse," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    9. Dulani Jayasuriya Daluwathumullagamage & Alexandra Sims, 2020. "Blockchain-Enabled Corporate Governance and Regulation," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-41, June.
    10. Manu Sharma & Sudhanshu Joshi & Sunil Luthra & Anil Kumar, 2022. "Managing disruptions and risks amidst COVID-19 outbreaks: role of blockchain technology in developing resilient food supply chains," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 268-281, June.
    11. Archana A Mukherjee & Rajesh Kumar Singh & Ruchi Mishra & Surajit Bag, 2022. "Application of blockchain technology for sustainability development in agricultural supply chain: justification framework," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 46-61, June.
    12. Xue Han & Pratibha Rani, 2022. "RETRACTED ARTICLE: Evaluate the barriers of blockchain technology adoption in sustainable supply chain management in the manufacturing sector using a novel Pythagorean fuzzy-CRITIC-CoCoSo approach," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 725-742, December.
    13. Zhang, Jian & Zhang, Xuanjian & Liu, Wei & Ji, Ming & Mishra, Arunodaya Raj, 2022. "Critical success factors of blockchain technology to implement the sustainable supply chain using an extended decision-making approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    14. Niloofar Etemadi & Pieter Van Gelder & Fernanda Strozzi, 2021. "An ISM Modeling of Barriers for Blockchain/Distributed Ledger Technology Adoption in Supply Chains towards Cybersecurity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-28, April.
    15. Ysé Commandré & Catherine Macombe & Sophie Mignon, 2021. "Implications for Agricultural Producers of Using Blockchain for Food Transparency, Study of 4 Food Chains by Cumulative Approach," Post-Print hal-03351947, HAL.
    16. Agi, Maher A.N. & Jha, Ashish Kumar, 2022. "Blockchain technology in the supply chain: An integrated theoretical perspective of organizational adoption," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    17. Nathalia Suchek & João J. Ferreira & Paula O. Fernandes, 2022. "A review of entrepreneurship and circular economy research: State of the art and future directions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2256-2283, July.
    18. Govindan, Kannan & Jain, Preeti & Kr. Singh, Rajesh & Mishra, Ruchi, 2024. "Blockchain technology as a strategic weapon to bring procurement 4.0 truly alive: Literature review and future research agenda," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    19. De Giovanni, Pietro, 2020. "Blockchain and smart contracts in supply chain management: A game theoretic model," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    20. Mario Dobrovnik & David M. Herold & Elmar Fürst & Sebastian Kummer, 2018. "Blockchain for and in Logistics: What to Adopt and Where to Start," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-14, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:48:y:2024:i:9:s0308596124001320. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30471/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.