Developing sustainable global value chain: role of multi-stakeholder collaborations and digitalization

Global value chains (GVCs) channel roughly two-thirds of world trade, yet the efficiency they create is increasingly offset by climate risk, social inequity, and governance gaps. To clarify how digitalisation and multi-stakeholder collaboration might reverse this trajectory, we conducted a PRISMA-guided systematic review of 59 peer-reviewed articles published between 2014 and 2024, retrieved with a five-item quality checklist. Thematic coding, bibliometric mapping, and mechanism-focused process tracing reveal three persistent blind spots: scant causal evidence connecting specific digital tools—blockchain traceability, AI-driven analytics, industrial digital twins—to triple-bottom-line outcomes; under-specified governance mechanisms for scaling collaboration beyond tier-one suppliers; and weak integration of sustainability-linked finance with real-time traceability data. To bridge these gaps, we advance the conceptual model of the Enhanced Sustainable GVCs Framework in which digital infrastructures make social and environmental externalities auditable. At the same time, coalitions of buyers, suppliers, investors, regulators, and NGOs convert that visibility into collective action. The framework extends GVC governance and stakeholder theories by incorporating algorithmic coordination, radical visibility, and data-liquidity capabilities. Policy implications point to pairing mandatory due diligence laws with investments in open data standards; managerial guidance emphasises interoperable architectures and sector-wide standards alliances; and a future research agenda calls for quasi-experimental causal identification, cross-level data integration, and boundary-condition analysis. Together, these insights outline an evidence-based pathway for transforming GVCs from vectors of ecological externality into engines of inclusive, low-carbon growth.