Global Production Networks Research Articles

One-size-does-not-fit-all: The heterogeneous impact of BITs on regions participating in GPNs

Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) are vital for safeguarding and enhancing foreign investments, pivotal in Global Production Networks (GPNs). This study assesses the impact of BITs on GPNs driven by EU multinational enterprises, with a focus on regions hosting corporate headquarters due to their influence on the local economy. While considering the endogeneity of BITs and their diverse effects on GPN structures, our findings reveal a positive correlation between BITs and GPNs, notably stronger in less globally integrated regions. Additionally, the influence varies based on firms' network role (headquarters or subsidiaries) and the spatial distribution of headquarters. BITs stimulate GPNs in less internationalized regions but have minimal impact in headquarters-rich regions.

Empowering left-behind places in Southwest China: participation in coffee value chains as place-based development

Abstract Geographical scholarship has advocated the importance of endogenous and place-sensitive development to levelling up left-behind places, by means of reactivating untapped potentials and recuperating a sense of belonging. Drawing on the approaches of global value chain (GVC), and to a lesser extent, global production network (GPN), this paper rethinks how GVC/GPN participation articulates with endogenous assets and enhances local actors’ capacities to achieve economic and social upgrading. We present a case study of the coffee economy in Lujiang Township, Yunnan Province, China. We find that local villagers are able to tap into opportunities of learning and upgrading, but these processes are mediated by institutions and moral economies. Ultimately, economic empowerment translates into the revival of a sense of belonging.

Regional capability, evolutionary economic geography and global production networks

ABSTRACT In this exchange, I suggest that regional capability provides a lens to link two popular theories in regional studies, namely evolutionary economic geography (EEG) and global production networks (GPNs). This implies moving beyond ordinary to dynamic organisational capability that turns global value chain, geopolitical and security risks into opportunities for regional diversification.

Global production networks meets evolutionary economic geography

ABSTRACT Two of the canonical approaches in regional studies are global production networks (GPNs) and evolutionary economic geography (EEG). Recent geopolitical and economic events have shown the importance of both theories in explaining regional economic change. Yet they remain discrete and separate, and there is now consensus that, together, they could explain more. A vibrant debate on the relationship between these two approaches is needed, starting with identifying unifying themes and areas of analytical difference, to develop a research agenda for future work which can better explain regional change.

A typology of artificial intelligence data work

This article provides a new typology for understanding human labour integrated into the production of artificial intelligence systems through data preparation and model evaluation. We call these forms of labour ‘AI data work’ and show how they are an important and necessary element of the artificial intelligence production process. We draw on fieldwork with an artificial intelligence data business process outsourcing centre specialising in computer vision data, alongside a decade of fieldwork with microwork platforms, business process outsourcing, and artificial intelligence companies to help dispel confusion around the multiple concepts and frames that encompass artificial intelligence data work including ‘ghost work’, ‘microwork’, ‘crowdwork’ and ‘cloudwork’. We argue that these different frames of reference obscure important differences between how this labour is organised in different contexts. The article provides a conceptual division between the different types of artificial intelligence data work institutions and the different stages of what we call the artificial intelligence data pipeline. This article thus contributes to our understanding of how the practices of workers become a valuable commodity integrated into global artificial intelligence production networks.

Gender and global production network: De-feminization of the Indonesian apparel industry

This paper aims to measure the involvement of women in the global apparel industry. This article also examines the declining role of women in the apparel industry in Indonesia, even though exports have increased. This article also aims to analyze the phenomenon of the decline of women in the Indonesian apparel industry in the last fifteen years by using survey data for medium and large enterprises conducted by Statistics Indonesia. This study uses the Fixed Effect Model's regression analysis method for panel data. The results show that the apparel industry in Indonesia in the past fifteen years has shown a downward trend, which has led to the phenomenon of de-feminization. The phenomenon of de-feminization is a term used to describe the process of the exclusion of women from specific jobs or roles in society. The results also show that this phenomenon can have a significant impact on women's economic opportunities as well as their ability to participate in the community. According to the rising number of skilled workers and rising fixed capital employed in this industry, the phenomenon of de-feminization is a result of greater mechanization and an increase in skilled workers. Indonesia has a high female workforce, so this research has practical implications; female workers need to be maximally absorbed by industry to avoid high unemployment rates based on the theory of de-feminization in developing countries.

Geopolitics of Fashion. Glocal Power Evidence and Design Activism for Leading Disrupting Textile Debris in Chile

The relocation of the textile industry has resulted in both linkages and disruptions within the regions where they have been established. Due to the creation of textile dumps, the territorial links of the textile industry in Chilean territory, specifically in Alto Hospicio, have modified the social and environmental landscape. This study investigates the relationship between global textile production networks and the environmental and social effects of textile debris entering Iquique. Furthermore, how would it be possible to make it visible and raise awareness to seek viable future solutions through design activism actions. The research was carried out based on field interviews, techniques of “conversation in action” (Flores, 2013) from the perspective of Grounded Theory, a research trip to the north of Chile, as well as the review of Chilean legislation, similar case studies, and literature related to the functioning of the global fashion system from a geopolitical standpoint.

Trade liberalisation and the wage premium: evidence from Thai manufacturing

This paper examines the impact of trade liberalisation on the wage premium using firm level data for Thai manufacturing as the case study. Tariff protection is applied here to represent trade liberalisation, in terms of both nominal and effective tariffs. Output and input tariffs are separately examined to assess nominal protection, while for effective rates of protection (ERP), both a traditional ERP measure and a measure incorporating possible water in tariffs and the effect of FTAs are applied. In addition to tariff protection, the impact of GVCs, considered through trade in parts and components (P&Cs), on the wage premium is investigated in the study. Our results show that firm‐specific factors are more crucial in affecting the wage premium than trade liberalisation and participation in global production networks. With trade liberalisation, only input tariffs matter in determining the wage premium while an insignificant relationship is observed when either output tariffs or ERPs are employed to reflect trade liberalisation. Participation in GVCs also has an insignificant impact on the wage premium. Wage‐skilled employment decoupling is evident in the study, that is, trade liberalisation and GVCs have a negligible influence on the wage premium but have a significant influence in the case of relatively skilled workers. Trade liberalisation tends to lower demand for skilled workers in response to cheaper imported products, while participation in global production networks encourages more skilled workers.

Multiscalar Industrial Strategies and Variegated Foreign Investment in China

ABSTRACT The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) enables investment from outside of Global North, such as the Gulf countries and Latin America, to enter the Chinese market. China’s local governments play an important role in facilitating FDI by new actors. This research uses a case study of three Turkish companies to explore the motivations of companies from developing countries to localize their operations in China, and the motivations for local officials to diversify their FDI portfolios. The results show that local governments are significantly more receptive to investments by developing countries due to inter-regional rivalry within China. The central government’s strategy of prioritizing high-technology industries works against developing countries, as their investments usually come from low-technology heavy industry companies. Turkish companies feel unwelcome by local governments except for the relatively large size of the capital they bring in. The findings demonstrate the transnational relations of China’s local governments and contribute to the multiscalar analysis of the spatialization of industrial strategies in Global Production Networks.

Understanding the growing contributions of China to leading international higher education journals

AbstractInternational publications in social sciences by scholars based in mainland China have been increasing in volume, but little is known about the characteristics of China’s contribution. This study examines the characteristics and patterns of international publications by Chinese scholars in higher education research. Data from three internationalized higher education journals were analyzed from 2000 to 2022. The results show a consistent pattern of continuous growth in the annual number of published articles with Chinese affiliations, with a marked increase since 2016. International collaborations are the most common type of publication, a pattern that contrasts with other articles in the same journal. In addition, returnee scholars have made significant contributions to international publications. Finally, the research of Chinese scholars is as influential as that of their international peers in terms of citation counts. These findings highlight the constrained agency of Chinese actors in the center-periphery structure of the global knowledge production networks.

Sexual Knowledge and Expertise in Europe's East: Transnational Exchanges

East Central Europe played a crucial role in shaping the development of sexual science from the 1870s onwards. The life-histories of influential and well-known figures such as Sigmund Freud (born in Freiberg/Příbor), Magnus Hirschfeld (born in Kolberg/Kolobrzeg) and Karl Maria Kertbeny (born in Vienna, based in Budapest) reveal the imperial interconnectedness of East Central Europe with what would become Western Europe. By 1932, when the World League for Sexual Reform held its congress in Brno (following previous meetings in Berlin, London, Vienna, and Copenhagen), the society had established branches across the region, including Poland, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. In that same year, Poland decriminalised homosexual acts. Yet, East Central Europe is often neglected in the history of sexology and little is known about how sexual science in these regions shaped, and was shaped by, global networks of knowledge production. Indeed, despite recent attempts to demonstrate the ways in which sexual science was a truly global enterprise, East Central Europe remains to be fully incorporated into our mapping of the global networks of sexological dialogue and exchange.1 This is especially true of scholarship on the period after the Second World War. Historians have tended to misconstrue the transnational nature of sexual science in East Central Europe both before and after 1945. First, the contribution of East Central Europeans to European cultures of scientific exchanges has been obscured by the tendency of much historical writing to focus on a small number of key pioneers (Krafft-Ebing, Magnus Hirschfeld, Sigmund Freud and Havelock Ellis). Second, it is assumed that East Central European sexual science was largely cut off from international networks of knowledge exchange after the Second World War following the onset of the Cold War.2 Third, there are preconceived notions that communist authoritarian governments, having curtailed political freedoms and economic entrepreneurialism, must have also taken a repressive stance against sexual expression.3 Fourth, the dominance of 1989 as the fundamental caesura has encouraged a periodisation that fails to draw enough attention to the shifts in transnational patterns of knowledge exchange around sexual politics during the period 1945 to 1989 and fails to identify key continuities that link the sexual politics of the contemporary world with those of the communist period. None of these assumptions can withstand scrutiny, as the articles in this forum reveal. Building on a recent boost in scholarly interest in the sexual histories of the region,4 we present a collection of papers that each detail the transnational connections of local sexual experts in creating sexual knowledge both before and during state socialism.5

Evolution of China's Role in the Structure of Global Carbon Emission Transfers: An Empirical Analysis Based on Network Governance

AbstractThis paper reconsiders the roles of China and some developed countries in the network of carbon emission transfers via international trade in value added from a new perspective of network governance. Network search intensity (NSI) and the extended gravity model are used with cross‐country panel data to analyze the mechanism of China's engagement in network governance of carbon emission transfers. The results show that from 2000 to 2009, China was a net exporter of carbon emissions, even though it shifted from the semi‐periphery to the core in the network of carbon emissions embodied in imports. Meanwhile, NSI had a significant positive impact on carbon emissions embodied in exports. Given China's important role in the global production network and division of labor, NSI may also affect industrial structure and the quality of the ecological environment to a large extent. This study analyses the network governance mechanism of China's participation in global carbon transfers. The results suggest that the technical complexity of export products and product heterogeneity do not change the positive impact of NSI on carbon emissions.

Firm Heterogeneity and Imperfect Competition in Global Production Networks

Firm Heterogeneity and Imperfect Competition in Global Production Networks

Sustainable Rural Development in Bangladesh: A Case Study of Three Villages at Gopalganj District

Background: Rural development in Bangladesh is crucial for the country's socio-economic progress, given the significant portion of its population residing in rural areas. However, achieving sustainability in rural development poses numerous challenges due to various factors such as poverty, environmental degradation, and limited access to resources. Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas. The term ‘rural development’ is used to describe the deliberate actions made in non- urban parts of a developing country to alleviate or eradicate poverty, increase resilience, promote ecological sustainability and build capacity to meet these and other issues. Rural development has traditionally centered on the exploitation of land, intensive natural resources such as agriculture, aquaculture and forestry. However, change in global production networks and increased urbanization have changed the characteristics of rural areas. According to World Bank estimation, rural population is 66.5% of the total population and remaining 33.5% are urban population in Bangladesh. It is quite evident that without development of the larger portion of the population of the rural area, sustained development is not possible for the country. Rural development is deeply rooted within our society and it is integrated in the way of life, livelihood and culture of the people of Bangladesh Since independence the Government of Bangladesh has been taking constant initiatives in terms of policies, strategies and programmes to promote sustainable rural development in the country. In this connection a research work has been undertaken to know the prospects and challenges for sustainable rural development entitled; “Sustainable Rural Development in Bangladesh: A Case Study of Three Villages at Gopalganj District” during 2022-2023 fiscal year. For this purpose, 03(three) villages beside BAPARD have been selected named Tarashi, Jathia and Satrakanda. Objectives: This research aims to investigate the prospects and challenges associated with rural development in Bangladesh and to identify strategies for enhancing sustainability in this context. A case study approach is adopted to provide an in-depth understanding of the dynamics and complexities involved in rural development initiatives. The specific objectives were: to identify the betterment related to sustainable promotion of development on rural community; to elucidate the prospects and challenges faced on rural prosperity achieving sustainable development; and to suggest possible ways for minimizing the problems and challenges that rural member faced in course of their sustainable rural development. Methods: The study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative analysis of secondary data with qualitative insights gathered through interviews, focus group discussions, and field observations. A specific rural area in Bangladesh is selected as the case study site to capture the nuances of local contexts and experiences. Results: Analysis of the data reveals both promising prospects and formidable challenges in the realm of rural development in Bangladesh. On one hand, there are instances of successful interventions that have improved livelihoods and enhanced community resilience. On the other hand, persistent issues such as poverty, inadequate infrastructure, and environmental degradation continue to hinder sustainable development efforts. Conclusion: Despite the challenges, there exist opportunities to promote sustainable rural development in Bangladesh through targeted policies, innovative approaches, and community participation. By addressing socio-economic disparities, strengthening institutional capacities, and integrating environmental considerations into development strategies, it is possible to create a more inclusive and resilient rural landscape in Bangladesh.

Duy trì ổn định kinh tế vĩ mô từ góc nhìn năng lực sản xuất quốc gia

The paper evaluates the improvement in productive capacities and its influence on the macroeconomic stability of Vietnam. Analyzing the export structure and product space from 2000 to 2020 reveals that Vietnam has accumulated new and advanced productive capacities over the past two decades. However, not only have these productive capacities lagged behind those of high-income countries but they also have been increasingly dependent on foreign inputs. So that national productive capacities should be critically restructured. These new productive capacities will decide which goods should be produced to make Vietnam become a part of global production network, the amount of consumed inputs and value added, job creation, and economic resilience against shocks. In addition, national productive capacities strategy should incorporate the global production trend in the next several decades, such as increasing localization rate and green products standards.

Automotive global production networks in peripheral locations: convergent divergence patterns of institutionalisation

Automotive global production networks in peripheral locations: convergent divergence patterns of institutionalisation

The evolution of urban freight generation: a study of intra- and inter-city truck trips

The operations and spatial structure of logistics-related facilities has evolved with the growth of the global production network and the advancement of information and communication technology over the past several decades. Such logistics evolutions are thought to have occurred in tandem with changes in urban freight transportation systems. We estimate models for freight trip generation using the data from 2003 and 2013 in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. The results suggest that the relationship between employment size and freight trip generation weakened during the study period and that the scale of freight generation and the generation of intercity freight trips became less connected.

Enraizamento Político e Institucional do IED: um estudo de caso da Nissan no Rio, Brasil

Abstract Although globalization is an interdisciplinary subject, phenomena such as foreign direct investments (FDI) are thought of as belonging to the economic sphere. In this article, we draw from the global production network model and the New Economic Sociology of FDIs to test the embeddedness of economic action. We've designed a least likely case study from an FDI in the auto industry, evaluating Nissan Motor Co.’s decision-making process to build an automobile factory in Brazil. Our findings support the sociopolitical embeddedness hypothesis. The paper contributes to the literature of Economic Sociology when we argue that, despite the "always embedded" assumption, Nissan's investment decision was progressively embedded in time and space.

Вплив прямих іноземних інвестицій на менш розвинені регіони

The article is devoted to the study of the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) and the activities of TNCs in less developed regions (LDRs), which can lead to a break in value chains and to an increasingly complex division of labor, more complex decisions on location and directions of regional development. The author presents different types and mechanisms of FDI in more developed regions (MDRs) and in LDRs. The main approaches to FDI in the LDRs, developed in economic theory, are evaluated. Attention is drawn to that that international production and FDI will have significant implications for the LDRs in the near future. The development of factory automation is likely to reduce the feasibility of low labor costs, low-cost locations, which, in turn, will lead to increased reuse, attraction of resources in high-tech industries and a decrease in the level of added value of services. Increasing digitalization of supply chains is likely to lead to the emergence of more complex global production networks, the expansion of international production in both low-tech industries and higher value-added services. Increased automation and digitalization, trends in regional integration towards more stable local and regional sources of supply, and a push to become less dependent on imports of strategic goods undertaken by more developed regions (MDRs) are likely to lead to stronger organization of production networks on a macro-regional scale. The article urges experts to continue researching FDI in the face of uneven development.

Spatiotemporal Dynamics in Economic, Social, and Environmental Upgrading in China: Coupling Coordination and Influencing Factors

The focus on the concept of upgrading in the study of global production networks has expanded from economic upgrading to encompass social and environmental upgrading. However, rare research pays attention to the complex interplay among these three aspects. This paper tries to integrate the economic, social, and environmental upgrading into an analytical framework through the lens of coupling coordination. Using the Granger causality test and panel regression model, it provides empirical evidence and an explanation of the triad’s interaction based on the Chinese case study. It is found that, over the past twenty-five years from 1996 to 2020, China has seen a significant improvement in the coupling coordination of economic, social, and environmental upgrading with the coordination degree rising from 0.35 to 0.51, though it remains at a low level of coordination. Regional disparities in economic upgrading are more pronounced than those in social and environmental upgrading, and the inter-group disparities between economic and environmental upgrading have widened following the economic crisis. Panel regression analysis shows that economic globalization, public governance, legal environment, and environmental regulation positively influence the coupling coordination of the three types of upgrading, while economic privatization and corporate violations of law tend to have a negative impact.