Analysis of the status of the division of labor in global value chains based on data empowerment

The ever-changing development of digital technology not only promotes economic development, but also begins to have a profound impact on the development process of global value chains and the division of labor status of countries in global value chains. This paper proposes a measurement method for the index of global value chain participation and division of labor status, and proposes a measurement method for the level of digital economy development, and explores the relationship between the two based on the theoretical mechanism of the impact of the digital economy on the division of labor status in global value chains. The study found that the 13 countries studied are still mainly developed countries in the upstream of the GVCs, while the developing countries Brunei and Malaysia, with the advantage of resource factor endowment, also have higher GVC status indexes, with the GVC status indexes of the two countries being 0.004 and 0.007, respectively, in 2023. In addition, the correlation coefficient between the level of digital economy development and the GVC status index is 0.524, and the benchmark regression analysis also shows that the development of digital economy is conducive to the improvement of countries’ GVC status. The research in this paper not only helps to expand the theoretical system of global value chain development, but also puts forward targeted suggestions for promoting China’s global value chain division of labor status to climb up to the high end, which has strong theoretical and practical value.