economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

, fragmentation means organization of production into different stages, which are divided among different suppliers often are located in different countries. Products traded between firms in different countries are often components rather than final products. Final products may be sold to outside the region in which fragmentation happens: for example,

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

n countries often sell their final products to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and the USA. Producers in

less developed countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

operate in positions within a production chain which add less value to final product. Their challenge is to "climb upwards" on the transnational production chain. Production chains are often vertical hierarchies in which big multinational companies may be those who sell final products and set production standards for "lesser" producers. This kind of fragmentation is an important part of contemporary globalisation. The United States

Government Accountability Office The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal gover ...

defines fragmentation as "work

here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Television * Here TV (formerly "here!"), a ...

different parts of the same goal ... are broken out across different parts of the same agency.Government Accountability Office
Saving Dollar Bills: Reducing Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication in Federal Programs
26 April 2018, accessed 2 March 2019

References

Production economics {{econ-stub