Jeroen van Wijk

My name is Jeroen van Wijk and I am an Associate Professor Global Value Chain and Partnerships at MSM. In this position, I teach Global Value Chain analysis in MSM’s MBA, MM, and short Executive Education Programs. In addition, I am involved in business support projects in Low and Middle-Income Economies, run by MSM’s International Project Department (IPD).

Besides my position at MSM, I am Associate Consultant with the social enterprise Fair & Sustainable Consulting in Utrecht where I am involved in value chain development projects (especially in Africa and Asia). Furthermore, I am working as independent consultant on geopolitical issues.

I hold a Master’s degree in Political Sciences and a PhD degree in International Relations, both from the University of Amsterdam. I have always had an interest in the way global food production is organized and particularly in the role food and biotechnology multinationals play in this process. My PhD dissertation focused on the political powerplay behind the intellectual property protection of food crops.

The research areas I focus on…

I have a particular interest in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the extent to which this initiative helps African countries industrialize. China has been investing massively in infrastructure and manufacturing in African countries, increasingly now under the banner of the BRI. These investments make sense considering Africa’s low manufacturing capacity and its gap in respect of ICT, transport, power, water and sa­nitation infrastructure. But obviously, the Chinese support is not free and comes at financial and political costs. The question that keeps me busy is to what extent African governments can influence and steer the Chinese investments so that they fit their own industrialization plans. My last paper addressed this question in respect of Ethiopia.

Publications:

• Van Wijk, J.M., van Wijk, J., Drost, S., & Stam, W. (2020). Challenges in building robust interventions in contexts of poverty: Insights from an NGO-driven multi-stakeholder network in Ethiopia. Organization Studies.
• Schouten, G, Vellema, S. & van Wijk, J. (2016). The diffusion of global multi-stakeholder sustainability standards: an assessment of the institutional fit of the ASC-shrimp standard in Indonesia. RAE-Revista de Administração de Empresas, 56(4), Jul-Aug: 411-423.
• Vellema, S. & van Wijk, J. (2015). Partnerships intervening in global food chains: the emergence of co-creation in standard-setting and certification. Journal of Cleaner Production, 107: 105-113.
• Drost, S., van Wijk, J. & de Boer, D. (2014). Including conflict-affected youth in agri-food chains: agribusiness in northern Uganda. Conflict, Security & Development, 14(2): 125-150.