Industrial Relocation Research Articles

Distributed hierarchical evaluation and carrying capacity models for water resources based on optimal water cycle theory

Water cycles protect and maintain ecological environments, while enabling sustainable development of human societies. Various approaches have been proposed for maintaining optimal water cycles. This study developed an evaluation system based on both natural and social attributes of the water cycle. The system incorporated the four dimensions of water ecology, water quality, water quantity, and water use in a distributed hierarchical evaluation model. A water resources carrying capacity model was also constructed. Both models were evaluated using the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region as a case study. Statistical data from 13 prefecture-level cities were used to assess the water cycle status of this region. Overall, the water cycle status of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region received a score of 3.33, indicating normal status (although this value varied throughout the region) and the standard deviation of the values was up to 0.48. Results suggested that although water use efficiency is close to ideal, insufficient water resources prevent the region from achieving an optimal regional water cycle. Feasible approaches to more sustainable water resource development within the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region include developing interregional cooperation, promoting population–industry relocation, and supplementing shortages with interbasin water transfers.

Effect of China's western development strategy on carbon intensity

China's western development strategy has led to the relocation of traditional industries from the east to the west, promoting China's economic growth. However, this transition has had complicated impacts on carbon dioxide emission reductions. To evaluate the impact of this development strategy on carbon intensity, we used a propensity score matching (PSM) technique and applied a difference-in-differences (DID) approach. The results highlighted three key points. First, while the impact of western development strategy on carbon intensity varies across different provinces, the strategy generally has no help to the reduction of carbon intensity in west region that has been increasing at an annual rate of 12.2 tons per million yuan. Second, the impact of western development strategy on carbon intensity has a hysteresis effect, which means the strategy deteriorates the carbon intensity of west region before improving it. Third, four intermediate factors: industrialization level, the capital intensity, the degree of urbanization, and strengthen of environmental regulation, strategically improved the carbon intensity of west region. Foreign direct investment (FDI) intensity was an important factor that indirectly helped the strategy to reduce carbon intensity.

Intersectionality applied to the study of global economy: the case of workers in relocated industries in Morocco

ABSTRACTThis study lays the foundations for bringing together the study of intersectionality and globalization concerning gender. We argue that intersectionality, by taking into account some of the criticisms made against it, can be improved and used to enrich the study of global inequality. Focusing on Morocco, we show how the study of gender relationships from an intersectional perspective can give us more information about how the international division of labor works. With the aim of deconstructing the narrative of ‘women without agency’, we argue that intersectionality can help to explain oppression. In order to make otherness visible, we contribute to reconstructing and rethinking categories that help to explain these interconnected realities through the day-to-day life of men and women workers in a context generated by industrial relocation and global processes.

African Development and the Marginalisation of Domestic Capitalists

The revival of industrial policy discussions has operated in parallel to reports of increasing domestic wealth accumulation across the African continent. Regional and continent-wide industrialisation has begun to be rhetorically linked to discussions of regional common markets and through the African Continental Free Trade Area. Yet, there is barely any mention of integrating African capital into the African industrial policy agenda. Where such discussions have appeared, they have emerged through the ‘Africapitalism’ narrative, which ignores the role of the state and politics in supporting and sustaining domestic business groups. Instead, the re-imagination of industrial policy on the continent relies on foreign investors, particularly the relocation of Chinese industry to various parts of the continent. This paper has two core objectives. The first is to explain why the study of African capitalists – popular in the 1980s and 1990s – has remained relatively dormant since then. Dominant narratives – through neopatrimonalism and dependency-inspired arguments – have been pessimistic about the potential of African capitalists to deliver structural transformation. Gradually, these narratives, alongside intellectual trends within mainstream social science and African studies, have discouraged the study of politics of state–business relations in Africa. Yet African capitalists have become increasingly prominent in popular culture. Many of the wealthiest and most prominent capitalists have emerged through owning diversified business groups across the continent. This paper argues that more attention should be dedicated to the study of the politics of the emergence and sustenance of African diversified business groups (DBGs). To achieve this goal, a fluid categorisation of DBGs is introduced, building on Ben Ross Schneider’s previous work. By examining three country case studies – Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania – this paper highlights how a range of DBGs are emerging across three very different political contexts.

Multinational corporations and the EU Emissions Trading System: The specter of asset erosion and creeping deindustrialization

This study seeks to investigate the causal effect of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) on firms' holdings of fixed assets as an early indicator of industrial relocation, exploiting installation level inclusion criteria of the regulation. To single out companies with particularly low relocation costs, global multinational enterprises (MNEs), we identify ownership structures for the full sample of EU ETS-firms. Matched Difference-in-Differences estimates provide robust evidence that contradicts the specter of an erosion of European asset bases. Baseline results for the manufacturing sector indicate that the EU ETS led to an on average increase of treated firms' asset bases of 12,1%. However, for a particular subgroup of MNEs, this increase is a mere 2.1%. For these companies, the EU ETS may have induced a shift in investment priorities.

Local institutional actors and globally linked territorial development in Bekasi District: A strategic coupling?

Ever‐changing spatial divisions of labour have led to an altered integration of many developing countries into global production networks (GPNs), leading to new spaces of territorial development in these countries. Against this background, this paper examines the role of local institutional actors in co‐shaping territorial development driven by global industrial relocation. Drawing on the case of Bekasi District, Indonesia, this paper nuances the notion of ‘strategic coupling’ in specific national and local settings of developing countries. Drawing on empirical material obtained through a series of in‐depth interviews conducted between 2012 and 2016, our analysis reveals that although local institutional actors have participated in Bekasi District's territorial development processes they sometimes exhibit a hesitant and less‐than‐creative attitude in this participation. Meanwhile, non‐local actors, most notably private developers and central government agencies, tend to have a more significant leverage in these development processes at the local level, suggesting complex institutional arrangements in tying Bekasi District's assets with GPNs.

Industry relocation or emission relocation? Visualizing and decomposing the dislocation between China's economy and carbon emissions

Dirty industries tend to relocate to regions with looser environmental regulations, thus turning those regions into pollution havens. Numerous studies have tested the pollution haven effect of inter-country industrial relocation. However, little attention has been paid to the effect that is hidden in domestic industry relocation. Considering that domestic investment is about 10-fold that of foreign investment, it is vital to examine this issue to ensure the achievability of China's international pledge of mitigating carbon emissions. This research integrated multiregional input-output analysis and a center of gravity model to visualize the dislocation between carbon emissions, value added, and outputs at a sectoral level from 2007 to 2012 in China. Carbon emissions were also decomposed to three segments of final demand. We also investigated the movement of the center of gravity of these segments, and their dislocation with the outputs. Our analysis found that more carbon emissions had relocated from east to west with domestic industry relocation, yet the opposite was found for value added. Specifically, carbon intensive sectors showed clear tendencies of shifting west. Capital formation was the major cause of the pollution haven effects for the economy as a whole. Thus, our results suggest that pollution haven effects exist in the relocation processes of most sectors. In turn, our findings support the idea that mitigation policies should differ by region and by industry. Our recommendations include a negative list for regions in the west, a mitigation policy for industries with high pollution, and differentiated supply chain management for final demands.

The effect of industrial relocation on industrial land use efficiency in China: A spatial econometrics approach

The variation of industrial land use efficiency caused by industrial relocation is of great significance to the land use, but little attention has been paid to the spatial effect of industrial relocation on industrial land use efficiency. This study investigates the temporal features of industrial land use efficiency at the regional level and the spatial features of industrial relocation at the provincial level. The industrial land use efficiency exhibits an obvious rising trend in the eastern region, central region, western region and northeast region from 2002 to 2013. There is significant spatial correlation among 30 provinces in industrial land use efficiency and shows obvious trapezoidal growth trends in 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2013. The study estimates the spatial effect of industrial relocation on the industrial land use efficiency in six industries by the spatial Durbin model (SDM). The results show that the industrial relocation of the chemical and rubber industry, mineral manufacturing industry, and machinery manufacturing industry plays a markedly positive role in improving the industrial land use efficiency. It is noteworthy that the impacts of industrial relocation on the industrial land use efficiency in the food and beverage industry, light and textile industry, and high-tech manufacturing industry are not significant. Except for the enterprise ownership structure, three other control variables, namely regional economic development, human capital stock, and industrial fixed capital, can contribute to promoting industrial land use efficiency.

Will developing countries become pollution havens for developed countries? An empirical investigation in the Belt and Road

Abstract The pollution haven hypothesis (PHH) posits that differentiated environmental regulations will result in inter-country relocation of dirty industries. This article proposes a pollution haven hypothesis validated model to conduct a comprehensive analysis on the PHH in a case study of the Belt and Road, composed of calculating carbon emission embodied in imports and exports, testing the PHH and exploring the formation mechanism of pollution havens. The findings obtained show that China has become a pollution haven for 22 developed countries, and 19 developing countries have become China's pollution havens. There is weak evidence in favor of the PHH in trades between China and the other 22 countries. Moreover, the validity of the PHH is jointly associated with international production fragmentation as well as factor endowment.

Mercados de trabajo en regiones fronterizas y no fronterizas de México, 2000-2010

El objetivo del artículo es describir la interrelación entre los mercados de trabajo, la estructura productiva y los modelos de desarrollo regional. Partiendo de las teorías de la sociología del trabajo y el desarrollo, planteamos una metodología macro-estructural, de corte descriptivo, basado en la comparación del comportamiento de mercados de trabajo locales, durante el periodo 2000-2010. Los casos de estudio fueron los estados de Baja California y Puebla, representativos de dos modelos de desarrollo regional: fronterizo y no fronterizo. Como principal resultado se identificó que en ambos contextos se presenta un proceso de precarización del mercado de trabajo, pero que responde a dinámicas particulares y afecta a poblaciones diferentes. Si bien, en este trabajo se logra conocer con mayor profundidad los efectos de la crisis económica y la relocalización industrial en el territorio, el estudio se podría ampliar para mostrar las limitaciones de otros modelos de desarrollo.

Reducing external costs of nitrogen pollution by relocation of pig production between regions in the European Union

This paper tests the hypothesis that relocation of pig production within the EU27 can reduce the external costs of nitrogen (N) pollution. The external cost of pollution by ammonia and nitrate from agriculture in the European Union (EU27) in 2008 was estimated at 61–215 billion € (0.5 to 1.8% of the GDP). Per capita it ranged from more than 1000 € in north-west EU27 to 50 € in Romania. The average contribution of pig production was 15%. Using provincial data (224 NUTS2 regions in EU27), the potential reduction of external N cost by relocation of pig production was estimated at 14 billion € (10% of the total). Regions most eligible for decreasing the pig stock were in western Germany, Flemish region, Denmark, the Netherlands and Bretagne, while Romania is most eligible for increasing pig production. Relocating 20 million pigs (13% of the total EU stock) decreased average external costs per capita from 900 to 785 € in the 13 NUTS2 regions where pigs were removed and increased from 69 to 107 € in 11 regions receiving pigs. A second alternative configuration of pig production was targeted at reducing exceedance of critical N deposition and closing regional nutrient cycles. This configuration relocates pigs within Germany and France, for example from Bretagne to Northern France and from Weser-Ems to Oberbayern. However, total external cost increases due to an increase of health impacts, unless when combined with implementation of best N management practices. Relocation of the pig industry in the EU27 will meet many socio-economic barriers and realisation requires new policy incentives.

Energy and carbon intensity: A study on the cross-country industrial shift from China to India and SE Asia

The potential relocation of various industrial sectors from China to India and countries of the SE Asian region presents low cost opportunities for manufacturers, but also risks rising for energy demand and CO2 emissions. A cross-country shift of industrial output would present challenges for controlling emissions since India and SE Asian countries present higher industrial emissions intensity than China. We find that although there is a convergence in emissions intensity in the machinery manufacturing and paper and pulp industries, there are significant variations in all other industrial sectors. Indian emissions intensity is double that of China in the iron and steel and textile and leather industries and almost triple in the cement industry; Indonesian emissions intensity is almost double that of China in the non-metallic minerals and textile and leather industries and 50% higher in the chemical and petrochemical industry. We demonstrate that the expected higher emissions are driven by both a higher carbon fuel mix intensity in the recipient countries and higher energy intensity in their industrial activities. While industrial relocation could benefit certain countries financially, it would impose considerable threats to their energy supply security and capacity to comply with their Paris Agreement commitments.

Multinational Corporations and the EU Emissions Trading System: Asset Erosion and Creeping Deindustrialization?

This study seeks to investigate the causal effect of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) on firms' holdings of fixed assets as an early indicator of industrial relocation, exploiting installation level inclusion criteria of the regulation. To single out companies with particularly low relocation costs, global multinational enterprises (MNEs), we identify ownership structures for the full sample of EU ETS-firms. Matched Difference-in-Differences estimates provide robust evidence that contradicts the spectre of an erosion of European asset bases. Baseline results indicate that the EU ETS led to an on average increase of treated firms' asset bases of 12,1%. However, for a particular subgroup of MNEs, this increase is a mere 2.1%. For these companies, the EU ETS may have induced a shift in investment priorities.

Multinational Corporations and the EU Emissions Trading System: Asset Erosion and Creeping Deindustrialization?

This study investigates the causal effect of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) on firms' holdings of fixed assets as an early indicator of industrial relocation, exploiting installation level inclusion criteria of the regulation. To single out companies with particularly low relocation costs, global multinational enterprises (MNEs), we identify ownership structures for the full sample of EU ETS-firms. Matched difference-indifferences estimates provide robust evidence that contradicts the idea of an erosion of European asset bases. Baseline results indicate that the EU ETS led on average to an increase of treated firms' asset bases of 11,1%. However, for a particular subgroup of MNEs, this increase is a mere 1.3%. For these companies, the EU ETS may have induced a shift in investment priorities. While the positive overall effect is very robust, the differential effect for the subgroup cannot be extended to all samples.

Migration from Mexico to the US: The Impacts of NAFTA on Mexico and the United States and What to Do Going Forward

Research indicates four main causes for migration from Mexico to the United States: Incredibly high crime rates, unemployment, poverty rates, and natural disasters. The first two are especially important in regards to trade between the two border sharing countries. Since agreeing to virtually total free trade, the United States has been able to take advantage of Mexico in such a way that has created further deterioration of the state. If the government of Mexico cannot resurrect the thousands of personal business that were effected do to NAFTA, the U.S. cannot expect for migration from Mexico to deteriorate or halt. By displacing Mexico’s small business owner’s, Mexico has effectively made their citizens weak to the inevitable increase in poverty, and the Cartels that have bought out swaths of land and human lives. In this paper, I reveal the direct correlations between agreements within the NAFTA and the millions of displaced agricultural workers in Mexico that caused an increase of immigration from Mexico to the United States. On January 1, 1994, The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which includes Canada, Mexico, and the United States, was officially formed. By 2008, virtual free trade in almost all goods and services was established amongst all three countries, with the exception of a limited number of agricultural products traded specifically with Canada. The trade agreements of NAFTA were coupled with a surge of Mexican migrants to the U.S. The question under investigation is, why did so many Mexicans move to the United States after the NAFTA was signed? Contrary to the theoretical benefits of free trade, many citizens of the United States and Mexico have developed deep contention towards the agreement between their countries. In the United States, those whose’ lives revolve around the manufacturing industry argue that increased trade with low-wage countries, such as Mexico, threatens their employment due to industrial re-location. Mexican’s argue that the U.S. is dumping agricultural products and manufacturing industries that destroy local business and decrease the standard of living. More than 35 million Americans have Mexican roots, and Mexico is the United States’ third-largest trading partner, next to China. Despite the positive correlation that the economic gravity theory presents, that both countries are at an advantage to trade with one-another, I’m afraid it’s information is flawed. As the United States and Mexico attempt to find a way to grow their economies and decrease migration, from Mexico to the U.S., it is imperative for them to understand that free-trade, under the current NAFTA, has actually increased immigration from Mexico to the U.S. because of minimal protectionisms for Mexico’s workers- especially in agriculture. This paper is written with the intent to inform people of the relationship between trade and immigration, specifically, between the U.S. and Mexico.

Industrial Relocation and CO2 Emission Intensity: Focus on the Potential Cross-Country Shift from China to India and SE Asia

The potential relocation of various industrial sectors from China to India and countries of the SE Asian region presents low cost opportunities for manufacturers, but also risks rising energy demand and CO2 emissions. A cross-country shift of industrial output would present challenges for controlling emissions since India and SE Asian countries present higher industrial emissions intensity than China. We find that although there is a convergence in emissions intensity in the Machinery manufacturing and Paper and Pulp industries, there are significant variations in all other industrial sectors. Indian emissions are double that of China in the Iron and Steel and Textile and Leather industries and almost triple in the cement industry; Indonesian emissions are almost double those of China in the Non-Metallic Minerals and Textile and Leather industries and 50% higher in the Chemical and Petrochemical industry. We demonstrate that the expected higher emissions are driven by both a higher fuel mix carbon intensity in the new countries and a higher energy intensity in their industrial activities. While industrial relocation could benefit certain countries financially, it would impose considerable threats to their energy supply security and capacity to comply with their Paris Agreement commitments.

Solid-Liquid Separation Technology in Contaminated Soil Leaching

The background of this paper is contaminated soil leaching in old industrial relocation areas. This paper will explore and analyze the solid-liquid separation technologies used in contaminated soil leaching from two perspectives, including soil composition and soil texture. For instance, sedimentation separation, filtration separation and hydrocyclone separation technology applied in the soil solid-liquid separation. A horizontal comparison among technologies and corresponding equipment will be demonstrated as well as their characteristics.

Relocation of manufacturing industry from the perspective of transport accessibility – An application of percolation theory

Industrial relocation patterns has become one of the central issues for sustainable development of economics. In order to analyze the relocation patterns of manufacturing industries from the perspective of transport accessibility, this study took the electronic and information industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt as an example to analyze the relocation patterns of manufacturing industries in China. Considering the transportation factors and economic factors, a topological network of Yangtze River Economic Belt was constructed. Based on this network, the relocation patterns of manufacturing industry both at present and in the planning period were analyzed by percolation theory. And results show that: first, percolation transitions exists during the process of industry relocation. Cities located in border regions are the bottlenecks for industry relocation. Second, both improvements in transport accessibilities and increase of production costs accelerate the process of industrial relocation in “fly-in” mode. Finally, preferential policies are needed for provinces in the upper reaches Yangtze River Economic Belt to attract industrial relocation.

Industrial Land Price Rise, Local Government Land Supply Behavior and Industrial Transfer

The rising prices of industrial land induce the industry relocation of firms and the land leasing behavior of local governments can affect the formation of the gradient force of land prices required by industrial transfer. Firstly this paper theoretically analyzes the general mechanism of industrial transfer promoted by the rise in land prices. And then from a perspective of micro firms, it discusses the effect of the land leasing behavior of local governments on industrial transfer. Finally based on the city-level panel data from 2007 to 2013, this paper empirically investigates the relationship between industrial land prices, the land leasing behavior of local governments and industrial transfer in China.The results show that there is significant negative correlation between the relative prices of industrial land and the relative ratio of the secondary industry, indicating that the rising cost of industrial land can contribute to the industrial transfer; non market-oriented land leasing practiced by local governments impedes the formation of the gradient force of land prices required by industrial transfer, thereby being bad for industrial transformation and upgrading; the relative prices of industrial land have the most significant effect on the relative ratio of the secondary industry in the eastern-central city groups and the effect of the relative prices of industrial land on the relative ratio of the secondary industry in eastern-western city groups is contrary to expectation, indicating that there is a general trend of industrial transfer in China from the eastern China to the central and eastern China. It suggests that the land leasing price marketization should be deepened in central and western China to contribute to the formation of the gradient force of land prices required by industrial transfer and promote the rational and coordinated development of industrial structure.

Job-housing imbalance and commuting of coastal industrial town in Liaoning province, China

During the Twelve Five period, China promulgated industrial policies promote the energy-intensive industries relocate to coastal areas in order to utilize marine shipping resources. Consequently, some major state-owned steel and petrochemical enterprises have relocated and resulted in a large scale coastal area development. Restricted by the port construction, most of the coastal industrial areas are located in the outer suburbs. To balance between employment and housing, new industrial coastal towns were constructed. In this paper, we adopt a case-study approach to analysis some typical industrial coastal towns of Liaoning Province situated in the Bohai Bay, which is currently under rapid economic growth. Our investigations reflect the common phenomenon of long distance commuting and massive amount of vacant residences. More specifically, large plant relocation caused hundreds of kilometers of daily commute and enterprises had to provide housing subsidies and education incentives to motivate employees to relocate to coastal areas. Nonetheless, many employees still refuse to relocate due to job stability, diverse needs of family members and access to convenient services. These employees averaged 4 hours of commute daily and some who lived further had to reside in temporary industrial housing units and subject to long-term family separation. As a result, only a small portion of employees purchase new coastal residences but mostly for investment and retirement purposes, leading to massive vacancy and ghost-town phenomenon. In contrast to the low demand, coastal areas tend to develop large amount of residences prior to industrial relocation, which may be directly related to local government finances. Some local governments have sold residential land to developers to general revenue to support the subsequent industrial development. Subject to the strong preference of ocean- view, residential housing developers tend to select coast-line land to construct new residential towns, which further reduces the access of marine resources for major industrial enterprises. This violates the original intent of developing industrial coastal towns and drastically limits the availability of marine resources. Lastly, we analyze the co-existence of over-exploiting residential areas and massive vacancies in reference to the demand and supply of land, as well as the demand of residential housing units with the choice criteria of enterprise employees.