Formation of value chain theory jungle and its developing status in China

Dozens of value-chain-related concepts bring about the jungle phenomenon in Chinese academia, which, however, has two obvious demerits: (a) research direction is decentralized and has no strong focus; (b) numerous and complicated concepts are confusing the researchers who have just entered this field. In order to comb and classify the concepts derived from or related to value chain theory and to explore the developing status of these theories in China, the formation of value chain theory jungle and its possible contribution are proposed. The definition of this theory jungle is given and the hierarchical models of three theory trees are put forward. Based on the preparation work such as data source determination and data normalization, some information retrieval techniques popular in webometrics are utilized to collect data. Finally, contrast analysis of the theories and concepts in each tree is carried out and some particular evolving rules of value chain theory jungle in China are acquired.