Stateless State-Led Industrialization

What befalls economies that descend into violence? This chapter suggests that the splintered trade networks described in Chapter 2 effectively forced firms in Liberia to localize many of their inputs and to internalize many of the functions that would otherwise be external—imitating the effects of import-substitution and state-led industrialization policies. Specifically, the war economy in Liberia mimicked import tariffs, localized the staffs of many companies, raised local content in products, and even spurred technical learning and knowledge accumulation. In calling attention to ways in which violence localized supply chains, this chapter suggests that the interplay between violent predation is itself a reaction to the structure of global value chains.