Rising Techno-Nationalism and Innovation Rivalries: Bulgaria in the Unknown Future of Global Value Chains
Rising Techno-Nationalism and Innovation Rivalries: Bulgaria in the Unknown Future of Global Value Chains

Author(s): Simeon Stoilov
Subject(s): Economy, National Economy, Supranational / Global Economy, Business Economy / Management, ICT Information and Communications Technologies, Transport / Logistics, Green Transformation
Published by: Икономически университет - Варна
Keywords: techno-nationalism; innovation rivalries; global value chains (GVCs); international innovation and technology transfer; strategic technologies
Summary/Abstract: The global economy is undergoing structural change. Competition for resources persists within conventional value chains, while innovation leaders redirect the frontiers of rivalry. These dynamics are altering how GVCs operate. When access to key technologies becomes contested, states increasingly securitize and restrict exchange. This tendency, rising across economies, is described as techno-nationalism. It now converges with the sustainability transition to redefine the functioning of GVCs. Today’s dependencies on semiconductors, data processing, biotechnologies, new energy vehicles (NEVs), and new materials generate defensive reflexes and accelerate systemic fragmentation. This study reviews strategic initiatives such as Made in China 2025 (2015), the CHIPS and Science Act (2022), and the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (2023/24) as evidence of how states institutionalize control points in emerging industries. It identifies policy pathways through which international innovation and technology transfer can support Bulgaria’s navigation of transforming GVCs and argues that success must be reframed as the attainment of competitive advantage under systemic uncertainty.

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