The aim of the paper is testing if, and the extent to which, the participation in Global Value Chains (GVCs) influences firm’s competitiveness (i.e., the “GVC effect”). The empirical results show that the participation in GVCs moderates the relationship between small firms and performance from different points of view: digital transition, green transition, and resilience. Moreover, we found that participation in GVCs is influenced by management openness, Institutional openness, and business openness.
