The End of Globalized Production? Supply-Chain Resilience, Technological Sovereignty, and Enduring Global Interdependencies in the Post-Pandemic Era

Abstract

This article assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and geopolitics on geographies of production. Criticizing simplified perspectives on globalized versus intraregional production, we stress the multi-scalarity, the role of industrial policies and sector-specific path dependencies in shaping global production. Based on expert interviews and policy and industry documents, our analysis focuses on the automotive, clothing, and electronics industries. Although concerns for resilience increasingly shape lead firms’ strategies, increased regionalization of production through re- or near-shoring is only one of several strategies. Where it does occur, it has been driven by state policies that tackle certain strategically important products, not production networks as a whole. Hence, while recent events exposed the vulnerabilities of global production, we do not observe deglobalization in the sense of a comprehensive retreat from globalized in favor of intraregional production. Nonetheless, state interventions that are geopolitically motivated and affect firms’ investment decisions have intensified particularly in the United States and the European Union.