Although international value chains, whether regional or global, are not a new phenomenon, their importance in the global economy has increased tremendously over the last two decades. These geographically fragmented and increasingly complex production networks, often coordinated by dominant transnational lead firms, have become pervasive, significantly altering the global trade and investment landscape. According to UNCTAD , around 80 percent of global gross exports are linked to the activities of such value chains, which offers a telling glimpse of their scale. From a development perspective, designing and implementing policies geared towards fostering developing countries’ beneficial integration into value chains has thus become crucial. The question is not whether to participate, but rather how to promote better and more inclusive participation in value chains so that they become an engine for sustainable development. While some developmental benefits can arise spontaneously from the operation of value chains, there is broad consensus that without adequate accompanying measures and policies, such positive spillovers will remain limited and the gains static. A first critical step consists in developing a reliable knowledge base on the functioning of value chains. In order to be effective and avoid undesirable outcomes, policies need to be evidence-based. In the first...