This article examines the genesis of global value chains as a result of action of the law of international division of labour on the modern world economy. During the globalisation, we prefer to assess the integration of national economies in terms of the main value added indicators developed by international institutions. Value-added indicators make it possible to identify advantages and disadvantages of the economic development of different types of countries. The study found: national institutions in the extractive industries of developing countries receiving foreign exchange earnings from raw material exports, then spend more foreign exchange for imports of manufactured goods from developed countries that process raw materials from developing countries; foreign corporations in developed countries, receiving raw materials from developing countries, develop the processing sectors of the national economy and create new jobs by increasing the wages of employees; foreign corporations are expanding the scale of production, the rate of capital accumulation, and recouping the costs of technological upgrading of production and modernising machinery through an increase in depreciation fund and profits; corporations in developing countries need to process raw materials (oil, gas, iron ore, non-ferrous metals, etc.) deeply, produce final goods and export them to world markets on their own; based on new technologies, produce innovative final goods and create high-tech jobs, increase the wages of workers and expand the domestic market.