Necessary restructuring or globalization failure? Shifts in regional supplier relations after the merger of the former German Hoechst and French Rhône-Poulenc groups

Abstract

A large part of the work in economic geography and other social sciences surrounding globalization processes has focused on the prospects of economic growth due to the establishment of global production chains and the rise of new clusters of industrial activity. In recent years, much less attention has been paid to former growth industries and regions that have suffered from the negative consequences of internationalization processes. This paper will explore the cases of two chemical regions, i.e. southern Hessen, Germany and Rhône-Alpes, France. Both regions were forced to undergo drastic restructuring since the mid 1990s due to the merger of the chemical groups Hoechst and Rhône-Poulenc into Aventis. The paper argues that it is beneficial to develop a relational perspective of economic action and interaction in order to better understand these regional transformations and restructuring processes and their consequences. Instead of investigating the development of activities, which became the core operations at Aventis, we will focus on other activities that were considered less important and, consequently, split off. In analyzing the logic of restructuring and the associated changes in regional supplier relations, this paper aims to contribute to a relational understanding of economic globalization and its associated threats to regional development by focusing on agents who are subject to negative restructuring consequences.