Global production network analysis places global value chains in their broader context, and unlike the global value chain approach, which focuses on inter-firm relations, emphasizes factors as the state, civil society actors and trade unions, for example, shape production, the labour process and employment outcomes.

Global value chain refers to production of a single product that takes place in multiple locations, by different firms. Global value chain analysis emphasizes where value is created in the chain, and which actors and locations are capturing the created value.