Global production networks (GPN) are organizational platforms through which actors in different regional and national economies compete and cooperate for a greater share of value creation, ...transformation, and capture through geographically dispersed economic activity. Existing conceptual frameworks on global value chains (GVC) and what we term GPN 1.0 tend to under-theorize the origins and dynamics of these organizational platforms and to overemphasize their governance typologies (e.g., modular, relational, and captive modes in GVC theory) or analytical categories (e.g., power and embeddedness in GPN 1.0). Building on this expanding literature, our article aims to contribute toward the reframing of existing GPN-GVC debates and the development of a more dynamic theory of global production networks that can better explain the emergence of different firm-specific activities, strategic network effects, and territorial outcomes in the global economy. It is part of a wider initiative-GPN 2.0 in short-that seeks to offer novel theoretical insights into why and how the organization and coordination of global production networks varies significantly within and across different industries, sectors, and economies. Taking an actor-centered focus toward theory development, we tackle a significant gap in existing work by systematically conceptualizing the causal drivers of global production networks in terms of their competitive dynamics (optimizing cost-capability ratios, market imperatives, and financial discipline) and risk environments. These capitalist dynamics are theorized as critical independent variables that shape the four main strategies adopted by economic actors in (re)configuring their global production networks and, ultimately, the developmental outcomes in different industries, regions, and countries.
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Abstract
This intervention focuses on recent disruptions and transformations in the (post)pandemic world economy that will likely ‘trouble’ economic geographers for some time to come. It aims to ...foster constructive dialogues and move conversations forward in the expanding field of economic geography whose presence and relevance in critical human geography is ironically at stake. I contend that economic geography in the early 2020s is characterised by a changing world and a changing generation of more diverse researchers who can be innovative enough to take on these troubling themes for future research. I suggest four such research directions that combine new themes of geopolitics and risks in remaking the global economy with older issues of work and environment that certainly merit renewed interest and greater analytical attention in the field. Taken together, these new horizons for economic geography research throughout the 2020s and beyond can be well capitalised upon to enhance the intellectual and public relevance of the field.
Short Abstract
This intervention focuses on recent disruptions and transformations in the (post)pandemic world economy and suggests four troubling themes for future research in economic geography: (geo)politics, economies, and space; remaking the global economy; worlds of work; and (un)sustainable global economic/environmental change.
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This annual lecture paper bridges two influential but parallel literature strands on evolutionary economic geography (EEG) and global production networks (GPN). It argues that both strands are ...premised on their different conceptions of 'regional worlds' of production - a more endogenous view in EEG and a more relational view of 'interconnected worlds' of production in GPN studies. Drawing on EEG's core concept of related variety in regional diversification, the paper theorizes how regional strategic coupling with GPN can serve as a causal mechanism for realizing related diversification by highlighting the importance of extra-local/regional linkages and production network dynamics.
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This article reviews the rapidly growing domain of global value chain (GVC) research by analyzing several highly cited conceptual frameworks and then appraising GVC studies published in such ...disciplines as international business, general management, supply chain management, operations management, economic geography, regional and development studies, and international political economy. Building on GVC conceptual frameworks, we conducted the review based on a comparative institutional perspective that encompasses critical governance issues at the micro-, GVC, and macro-levels. Our results indicate that some of these issues have garnered significantly more scholarly attention than others. We suggest several future research topics such as microfoundations of GVC governance, GVC mapping, learning, impact of lead firm ownership and strategy, dynamics of GVC arrangements, value creation and distribution, financialization, digitization, the impact of renewed protectionism, the impact of GVCs on their macro-environment, and chain-level performance management.
Abstract
In this framing paper for the special issue, we map significant research on global production networks during the past decade in economic geography and adjacent fields. In line with the core ...aim of the special issue to push for new conceptual advances, the paper focuses on the central elements of GPN theory to showcase recent rethinking related to the delimiting of global production networks, underlying political-economic drivers, actor-specific strategies and regional/national development outcomes. We suggest that the analytical purchase of this recent work is greater in research that has continued to keep a tight focus on the causal links between the organizational configurations of global production networks and uneven development. Concomitantly, considerable effort in the literature has gone into expanding the remit of GPN research in different directions, and we thus engage with five domains or ‘constituent outsides’ that relate to the state, finance, labour, environment and development. We believe such cross-domain fertilisation can help realize GPN 2.0’s potential for explaining uneven development in an interconnected world economy.
Some sympathetic critics have recently found trouble with the latest iteration of the global production networks theory (GPN 2.0) developed in economic geography. I term these immanent critiques “GPN ...trouble” and address them in this Exchanges paper in relation to GPN 2.0’s conceptualization of value and risk and its perceived “missing” elements of the state, labour, and so on. Reiterating briefly its core tenet, I first demonstrate GPN 2.0’s modest role as a meso theory of industrial organization and economic development in an interconnected world economy. I argue that empirical analysis based on GPN 2.0 must open up the “black box” of production networks in order to evaluate the causal links between network dynamics and uneven development outcomes. Second, I show how understanding these causal links can provide better answers to the crucial question of “in what sense a GPN problem?” Addressing both issues appropriately will likely reduce the sort of “GPN trouble” one might encounter in future research on global economic restructuring during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.
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This paper rethinks the trajectories of regional development in an era of economic globalization. It argues for a more dynamic perspective on regional development that must incorporate both ...endogenous regional assets and strategic imperatives in global industries. Premised on theoretical advances in research into global production networks (GPNs) and global value chains (GVCs), a dynamic perspective of strategic coupling is further developed and reconstructed in this paper to demonstrate how regional development can result from the interaction effects of these regional assets and GPN logics. This perspective also points to different modes of strategic coupling for understanding the changing pathways of regional development. Several key issues for regional policy and practice are outlined to substantiate this call for a shift towards a dynamic and multi‐scalar view of regional development in today's global economy.
Resumen. Este artículo replantea las trayectorias de desarrollo regional en la era de la globalización económica. El artículo aboga por una perspectiva más dinámica en el desarrollo regional que debe incorporar tanto activos regionales endógenos como imperativos estratégicos en las industrias globales. Tomando como premisa los avances teóricos en la investigación sobre redes mundiales de producción (GPNs, por sus siglas en inglés) y las cadenas de valor mundiales (GVCs, por sus siglas en inglés), en este artículo se desarrolla y se reconstruye una perspectiva dinámica de acoplamiento estratégico para demostrar cómo el desarrollo regional puede resultar de los efectos de la interacción de estos activos regionales y lógicas de GPN. Esta perspectiva también apunta a los diferentes modos de acoplamiento estratégico para la comprensión de los cambios en las vías de desarrollo regional. Se enuncian varios temas clave para las políticas y la práctica regionales con los que fundamentar el presente llamado a un cambio hacia una visión dinámica y multi‐escalar del desarrollo regional en la economía global actual.
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FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, ODKLJ, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This paper builds common grounds for a future research agenda in the regional studies of evolutionary economic geography and global production networks. I put forward two 'troubling themes' of ...(geo)politics and heightened risks as the most disruptive forces in today's increasingly fragmented global economy and argue for their significance in regional studies throughout the post-pandemic 2020s. Massive global change through the reconfiguration of and strategic (de/re)coupling with global production networks will engender new path formation in regional transformation. In this analytical move from the global 'back again' to the regional, there are common questions on epistemology (causal explanations) and substantive issues (network/regional resilience, institutions/the state, inequalities/uneven development and new forms of regional policies) for both communities of researchers.
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9.
Rethinking relational economic geography Yeung, Henry Wai-chung
Transactions - Institute of British Geographers (1965),
March 2005, Volume:
30, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Recent theoretical and empirical work in economic geography has experienced what might be termed a 'relational turn' that focuses primarily on the ways in which socio-spatial relations of economic ...actors are intertwined with processes of economic change at various geographical scales. This phenomenon begs the questions of whether the 'relational turn' is simply an explicit reworking of what might be an undercurrent in economic geography during the late 1970s and the 1980s, and whether this 'turn' offers substantial advancement in our theory and practice. In this paper, I aim to evaluate critically the nature and emergence of this relational economic geography by revisiting its antecedents and conceptual frameworks. This evaluation opens up some significant conceptual issues that are further reworked in this paper. In particular, I argue that much of the work in this 'relational turn' is relational only in a thematic sense, focusing on various themes of socio-spatial relations without theorizing sufficiently the nature of relationality and its manifestation through power relations and actor-specific practice. This paper thus illuminates the nature of relationality and the multiple ways through which power works itself out in 'relational geometries', defined as the spatial configurations of heterogeneous power relations. As a preliminary attempt, I first conceptualize different forms of power in such relational geometries and their causal effects in producing concrete/spatial outcomes. I then show how this relational view can offer an alternative understanding of a major research concern in contemporary economic geography - regional development.
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Yeung H. W.-C. Regional development and the competitive dynamics of global production networks: an East Asian perspective, Regional Studies. The debate on the nature and dynamics of regional ...development in both academic and policy circles has now moved on from the earlier focus on endogenous regional assets to analysing the complex relationship between globalization and regional change. This position paper attempts to engage with this debate through the experience of regional development in East Asia. The paper shows that regional development cannot be understood independently of the changing dynamics of global production networks. While the existing literature on East Asia tends to focus on the state as the key driver of economic development at the national and regional levels, it is argued that the developmental state is a necessary but not sufficient condition for regional development to take place. Instead, one needs to study the complex strategic coupling of those economic actors, particularly large business firms, operating in specific regions in Asia with their lead firm counterparts orchestrating production networks on a global basis. To illustrate these strategic coupling processes and their impact on divergent regional development trajectories, the author draws upon his own primary data and other papers to be published in this special issue of Regional Studies. The paper concludes with some major implications for theorizing regional development and strategic regional policy options.
Yeung H. W.-C. L'aménagement du territoire et la dynamique compétitive des réseaux de production mondiaux: du point de vue de l'Asie de l'Est, Regional Studies. Le débat sur les caractéristiques et la dynamique de l'aménagment du territoire dans les milieux académique et politique ne met plus l'accent mis sur les atouts régionaux endogènes mais plutôt sur l'analyse du rapport complexe entre la mondialisation et l'évolution régionale. Cet article cherche à s'engager dans ce débat à partir de l'expérience de l'aménagement du territoire en Asie de l'Est. Cet article montre que l'aménagement du territoire ne peut pas s'expliquer indépendamment de la dynamique changeante des réseaux de production mondiaux. Alors que la documentation actuelle sur l'Asie de l'Est a tendance à porter sur l'état comme la principale force motrice sur les plans national et régional, on affirme que l'état du développement constitue une condition nécessaire mais insuffisante de l'aménagement du territoire. Plutôt, on étudie l'accouplement stratégique complexe de ces agents économiques, notamment les grandes entreprises qui opèrent dans des régions spécifiques en Asie pendant que leurs entreprises phares homologues organisent des réseaux de production mondiaux. Pour illustrer ces processus d'accouplement stratégique et leur impact sur diverses trajectoires d'aménagement du territoire, on puise dans les données de base de l'auteur et dans d'autres articles à paraître dans ce numéro spécial de Regional Studies. Pour conclure, l'article discute d'importantes implications quant à la théorisation de l'aménagement du territoire et aux options stratégiques pour la politique régionale.
Aménagement du territoire Réseaux de production mondiaux Accouplement stratégique Processus transfrontaliers Asie Entreprises Etats
Yeung H. W.-C. Regionalentwicklung und die Wettbewerbsdynamik globaler Produktionsnetze: eine ostasiatische Perspektive, Regional Studies. Die akademische und politische Debatte über die Art und Dynamik der Regionalentwicklung konzentriert sich heute weniger auf endogenes regionales Kapital; stattdessen wird zunehmend die komplexe Beziehung zwischen Globalisierung und regionaler Veränderung analysiert. In diesem Positionsaufsatz versuche ich, mit den Erfahrungen der Regionalentwicklung in Ostasien zu dieser Debatte beizutragen. Aus dem Aufsatz geht hervor, dass sich die Regionalentwicklung nicht unabhängig von der wandelnden Dynamik globaler Produktionsnetze verstehen lässt. Die vorhandene Literatur in Ostasien konzentriert sich in der Regel auf den Staat als wichtigsten Motor der Wirtschaftsentwicklung auf nationaler und regionaler Ebene; ich hingegen argumentiere, dass ein die Entwicklung fördernder Staat zwar eine notwendige, jedoch keine ausreichende Vorbedingung für Regionalentwicklung darstellt. Stattdessen ist es nötig, die komplexe strategische Kopplung dieser wirtschaftlichen Akteure zu untersuchen - insbesondere die von Großunternehmen, die in bestimmten Regionen Asiens tätig sind und deren Leitfirmen Produktionsnetze auf weltweiter Ebene steuern. Um diese strategischen Kopplungsprozesse und ihre Auswirkung auf divergente regionale Entwicklungsverläufe zu illustrieren, werte ich meine eigenen Primärdaten sowie weitere Aufsätze aus, die in dieser Sonderausgabe von Regional Studies veröffentlicht werden. Zum Abschluss des Beitrags werden verschiedene wichtige Auswirkungen auf die Theoretisierung der Optionen für die Regionalentwicklung und strategische Regionalpolitik dargestellt.
Regionalentwicklung Globale Produktionsnetze Strategische Kopplung Transregionale Prozesse Asien Unternehmen Staaten
Yeung H. W.-C. Desarrollo regional y las dinámicas competitivas de las redes de producción global: una perspectiva esteasiática, Regional Studies. El debate académico y político sobre la naturaleza y las dinámicas del desarrollo regional ya no se centra como antes en el capital regional de tipo endógeno sino que tiene como objetivo analizar la relación compleja entre la globalización y el cambio regional. En este informe pretendo contribuir a este debate a través de la experiencia del desarrollo regional en el este de Asia. En el artículo demuestro que el desarrollo regional no puede ser entendido independientemente de las dinámicas cambiantes de las redes de producción global. Si bien la literatura existente sobre el este de Asia tiende a centrarse en el estado como el principal motor del desarrollo económico a niveles nacionales y regionales, sostengo que el estado de desarrollo es una condición necesaria pero no suficiente para que ocurra el desarrollo regional. Más bien necesitamos estudiar la compleja conexión estratégica de estos protagonistas económicos, especialmente para grandes empresas comerciales que funcionan en regiones específicas en Asia y cuyos socios líderes organizan las redes de producción en todo el mundo. A fin de ilustrar estos procesos de conexión estratégica y sus repercusiones en trayectorias divergentes de desarrollo regional, me beneficio de mis propios datos primarios y otros documentos que se publicarán en este número especial de Regional Studies. Este ensayo concluye con algunas implicaciones principales para teorizar las opciones del desarrollo regional y de la política regional estratégica.
Desarrollo regional Redes de producción global Conexión estratégica Procesos trans-regionales Asia Empresas comerciales Estados
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