Reorganizing Economic Global Value Chains in an Era of Polycrisis: Global Drivers, Strategic Responses, and Opportunities for South-East European Countries

Abstract

The reorganization of global value chains (GVCs) has become a defining question in international economics and business strategy. Pandemic disruption, geoeconomic rivalry, war-related energy and transport shocks, climate risk, and digital transformation have raised the value of resilience, yet they have not caused an indiscriminate reversal of cross-border production. This article develops a structured integrative review and comparative secondary-data synthesis to assess nature, drivers, and consequences of contemporary GVC reorganization. It argues that the dominant adjustment is selective rewiring: firms diversify suppliers, regionalize stages, increase inventories for critical inputs, digitalize visibility, and rebalance the efficiency–resilience trade-off while retaining global specialization. The analysis then considers South-East Europe, especially the Western Balkans and adjacent EU economies, as a potential complementary production and services space for European chains. The region’s opportunity is conditional on regulatory alignment, logistics, skills, innovation, energy transition, and regional coordination. A policy agenda centered on functional upgrading rather than low-cost assembly alone can connect resilience objectives with inclusive and sustainable development.