Nearshoring Configurations in Global Value Chains: A Systematic Literature Review

Background: Global value chains are restructuring toward regionalization. Geopolitical tensions and disruptions have led companies to return activities that had previously been offshored, opening up participation opportunities for economies located near major markets. Nearshoring is a manifestation of this reconfiguration, and its recent emergence, along with various coexisting conceptualizations, calls for further research. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, resulting in a final corpus of 30 empirical studies covering 50 cases with ex-post evidence of nearshoring, analyzed through a framework built for this purpose. Results: Four nearshoring configurations emerged: 1. Efficiency-driven light manufacturing; 2. Resilience-driven strategic and capital-intensive manufacturing; 3. Efficiency-driven services and business processes; and 4. End-market platform nearshoring. Each is structured around a distinctive combination of geographic, institutional, geopolitical, cultural, and end-market proximity relationships. China emerges not only as an actor but also as a structural condition in three of the four configurations. Conclusions: Light manufacturing and services depend on proximity, whereas strategic manufacturing responds primarily to institutional and geopolitical factors.