Power is central to GVC research, but the concept is usually restricted to ‘direct’ market power that generates rents. This paper examines ‘diffuse’ conceptualizations of power in GVCs that focus on social construction, arguing that they exist along a continuum from ‘fractured’ to ‘encompassing’. Then, empirically, it shows how different types of power intermix in telecommunications standard-setting from 1999 to 2021, using a comprehensive dataset of every finalized work item in 3GPP. Given powerful network effects in telecommunications, the industry is ripe for monopolistic rents and unequal value capture on a global scale. However, these are attenuated by a layering of power relations, and particularly, an intermediary form of social construction – legitimacy – which is the primary driver of telecommunications standard-setting, and a new type of constitutive power in GVCs, alongside governmentality and hegemony. This is illustrated by focusing on two major shifts in legitimacy in 3GPP – the rise of Huawei and network operators. The paper shows how power becomes layered with collective forms of power partially neutralizing inter-firm forms of dyadic power, which attenuates monopolistic value capture.

中文翻译：

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共识的力量：合法性、全球价值链和电信标准制定中的不平等

权力是全球价值链研究的核心，但这一概念通常仅限于产生租金的“直接”市场权力。本文研究了全球价值链中关注社会建构的“分散”权力概念，认为它们沿着从“断裂”到“包容”的连续体存在。然后，根据经验，它使用 3GPP 中每个最终工作项目的综合数据集展示了 1999 年至 2021 年电信标准制定中不同类型的权力如何混合。鉴于电信领域强大的网络效应，该行业在全球范围内垄断租金和不平等价值获取的时机已经成熟。然而，这些权力关系的层次，特别是社会建设的中介形式——合法性——削弱了这些因素，而这是电信标准制定的主要驱动力，以及全球价值链中与政府治理和霸权并列的新型构成权力。3GPP 合法性的两个重大转变——华为和网络运营商的崛起——就说明了这一点。本文展示了权力如何与集体权力形式分层，部分抵消了企业间的二元权力形式，从而削弱了垄断价值获取。