Emerging strategies and flexible forms of governance: The dynamics of role exchange in local value chains

The phasing out of the Multi-Fibre Agreement in 2005 triggered a global reorganization and relocation of the textile and garment industry. There is a rich literature on how global buyers with headquarters located in developed countries have played a dominant role in this reorganization process. The literature is less clear on how local firms have reacted or which new industrial structures are emerging in middle-income countries in response to these developments. This article examines how the textile and garment industry in Brazil is adapting to this new competitive environment. We show how large and small producers have transformed their relationships and created dynamic exchanges of roles in response to international competition, and how these new dynamic relationships are influencing the fast creation and fast destruction of value in fashion