Internal Relocation Research Articles

Relocating labour-intensive manufacturing firms from China to Southeast Asia: a preliminary investigation

China’s rise as a “world factory” since the late 1970s has been attributed to the strategic coupling of local assets in the coastal regions, viz. Pearl River Delta (PRD) and Yangtze River Delta (YRD) in the global production networks (GPNs) driven by transnational corporations (TNCs). Since 2000, these export-led regions have encountered unprecedented challenges, particularly the rising cost of labour, which have engendered spatial relocation of labour-intensive manufacturing firms from coastal China to lowercost locations such as inland China and neighbouring Southeast Asian countries. A rich body of literature has examined the internal relocation of TNCs from coastal to inland China, relatively little has been conducted on cross-border industrial relocation out of China to Southeast Asian countries. Drawing upon the global production networks (GPNs) perspective, this study attempts to examine the relocation of TNCs from China’s coastal regions, e.g. the Pearl River Delta (PRD) to Southeast Asian countries, e.g. Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia. Particular attention is paid to the rise of Global South and its subsequent implications for the restructuring of global manufacturing in the increasingly globalizing economy.

Microphysics of mass-transport in coupled droplet-pairs at low Reynolds number and the role of convective dynamics

Interfacial mass-transport and redistribution in the micro-scale liquid droplets are important in diverse fields of research interest. The role of the “inflow” and the “outflow” type convective eddy-pairs in the entrainment of outer solute and internal relocation are examined for different homogeneous and heterogeneous water droplet pairs appearing in a tandem arrangement. Two micro-droplets of pure (rain) water interact with an oncoming outer air stream (Re ≤ 100) contaminated by uniformly distributed SO2. By virtue of separation/attachment induced non-uniform interfacial shear-stress gradient, the well-defined inflow/outflow type pairs of recirculating eddy-based convective motion quickly develops, and the eddies effectively attract/repel the accumulated outer solute and control the physical process of mass-transport in the droplet-pair. The non-uniformly shear-driven flow interaction and bifurcation of the circulatory internal flow lead to growth of important micro-scale “secondary” eddies which suitably regroup with the adjacent “primary” one to create the sustained inflow/outflow type convective dynamics. The presently derived flow characteristics and in-depth analysis help to significantly improve our understanding of the micro-droplet based transport phenomena in a wider context. By tuning “Re” (defined in terms of the droplet diameter and the average oncoming velocity of the outer air) and gap-ratio “α,” the internal convective forcing and the solute entrainment efficiency could be considerably enhanced. The quantitative estimates for mass entrainment, convective strength, and saturation characteristics for different coupled micro-droplet pairs are extensively examined here for 0.2 ≤ α ≤ 2.0 and 30 ≤ Re ≤ 100. Interestingly, for the compound droplets, with suitably tuned radius-ratio “B” (of upstream droplet with respect to downstream one) the generated “inflow” type coherent convective dynamics helped to significantly augment the centre-line mass flow, which in turn facilitate faster saturation of the upstream droplet. However, for heterogeneous droplet-pairs containing solid nucleus, while increased solid-fraction “S” (the ratio between the radius of the solid nucleus and that of the droplet) through 0.25 ≤ S ≤ 0.45 caused gradual reductions of convective strength and mass absorption rate (RSO2) for the upstream droplet, beyond a critical value S ≥ 0.45 the RSO2 therein continued to rise again owing to the reduced film thickness.

Immigration and Wage Dynamics: Evidence from the Mexican Peso Crisis

How does the US labor market absorb low-skilled immigration? In the short run, high-immigration locations see their low-skilled labor force increase, native low-skilled wages decrease, and the relative price of rentals increase. Internal relocation dissipates this shock spatially. In the long run, the only lasting consequences are (a) worse labor market conditions for low-skilled natives who entered the labor force in high-immigration years, and (b) lower housing prices in high-immigrant locations, when immigrant workers disproportionately enter the construction sector and lower construction costs. I use a quantitative dynamic spatial equilibrium many-region model to obtain the policy-relevant counterfactuals.

Immigration and Wage Dynamics: Evidence from the Mexican Peso Crisis

How does the US labor market absorb low-skilled immigration? I address this question using the 1995 Mexican Peso Crisis, an exogenous push factor that raised Mexican migration to the US. In the short run, high-immigration states see their low-skilled labor force increase and native low-skilled wages decrease, with an implied local labor demand elasticity of -.7. Internal relocation dissipates this shock spatially. In the long run, the only lasting consequences are for low-skilled natives who entered the labor force in high-immigration years. A simple quantitative many-region model allows me to obtain the counterfactual local wage evolution absent the immigration shock.

The internal relocation premium: are migrants positively or negatively selected? Evidence from Italy

This paper analyzes the wage returns from internal migration for recent graduates in Italy. We employ a switching regression model that accounts for the endogeneity of the individual's choice to relocate to get a job after graduation: the omission of this selection decision can lead to biased estimates, as there is potential correlation between earnings and unobserved traits, exerting an influence on the decision to migrate. The empirical results sustain the appropriateness of the estimation technique and show that there is a significant pay gap between migrants and non-migrants; migrants seem to be positively selected and the migration premium is downward biased through OLS estimates. The endogeneity of migration shows up both as a negative intercept effect and as a positive slope effect, the second being larger than the first: bad knowledge of the local labor market and financial constraints lead migrants to accept a low basic wage but, due to relevant returns to their characteristics, they finally obtain a higher wage than the others.

Adsorption of dispersants at a polyester resin–alkane interface

Non-aqueous colloidal dispersions form the basis of many real-world applications, including electro-rheological fluids in automotive assemblies and inks in printing devices. The dispersion of particles within the non-aqueous liquid is typically stabilised by the use of dispersants, which adsorb to the particle/liquid interface and provide steric and/or electrical forces to prevent their aggregation. Importantly, the selection of the dispersant influences not only the inter-particle forces, but also their summation across many particles then defines the bulk properties of the suspension. Tailoring of these bulk properties is important in an industrial context, as each application will demand different bulk properties. In this study, the adsorption of three dispersants onto a polyester resin surface from a simple alkane is investigated. It is shown that the competition between the rates of adsorption from the bulk relative to that of the internal relocation of the functional groups of already adsorbed material defines the total adsorbed mass and structure of the film. Dispersants that have a slow rate of adsorption and a relatively fast rate of internal reorganisation produce soft visco-elastic layers with less total adsorbed mass. Conversely, dispersants with fast rates of adsorption and relatively low rates of reorganisation produce stiffer more elastic films and a greater total adsorbed mass.

Re L (Internal Relocation: Shared Residence Order) [2009] EWCA Civ 20, [2009] 1 FLR 1157

Relocation disputes involving cross-border movement are well known, and feature in the Court of Appeal several times per year. (The leading case remains Payne v. Payne [2001] 1 FLR 1052, CA.) Howev...

Growth and nitrogen relations in the mat-forming lichens Stereocaulon paschale and Cladonia stellaris.

Mat-forming lichens in the genera Stereocaulon and Cladonia have ecosystem-level effects in northern boreal forests. Yet the factors affecting the productivity of mat-forming lichens are not known. The aim of the presented work was to investigate whether mat-forming lichens adapted to low N availability employ N-conserving mechanisms similar to those of vascular plants in nutrient-poor ecosystems. Specifically, the following questions were asked: (a) Do lichens translocate N from basal areas to apical growth areas? (b) Are the quantities of N translocated of ecological significance. (c) Is lichen growth dependent on tissue N concentration [N]. Two different, but complementary, field experiments were conducted using the mat-forming N2-fixing Stereocaulon paschale and non-fixing Cladonia stellaris as model species. First, N translocation was investigated by feeding lichens with Na(15)NO3 either directly to the apex (theoretical sink) or to the basal part (theoretical source) and observing the redistribution of (15)N after a growth period. Secondly, growth and variation in [N] in thalli of different lengths was measured after a growth period. (15)N fed to lower parts of lichen was translocated towards the growing top, but not vice versa, indicating physiologically dependent translocation that follows a sink-source relationship. In the growth experiment where thalli were cut to different lengths, the significant decrease in [N] in apices of short vs. longer thalli after a growth period is consistent with internal relocation as an ecologically important source of N. The presented results demonstrate that internal recycling of N occurs in both species investigated and may be ecologically important in these mat-forming lichens under field conditions. The higher nitrogen use efficiency and relative growth rate in C. stellaris in comparison with S. paschale probably enable C. stellaris to dominate the ground cover vegetation in dry boreal coniferous forests under undisturbed conditions.

Metropolitan school desegregation: Impact on racial integration of neighborhoods in the United States

Research on school desegregation in U.S. cities has focused on the issues of white flight and the potential for racial residential integration of segregated neighborhoods. There is also concern over the effectiveness of a metropolitan desegregation plan for racial integration as against a plan which encompasses only the central city of urban areas. This paper deals with a court-ordered metropolitan school desegregation plan in New Castle County, Delaware. The method used is an examination of 602 small geographic areas (grids); the objective is to examine the extent of residential out-migration of students from the central city and to examine whether there is any tendency toward racial residential integration in the county. Evidence suggests (a) that the central city grids are retaining white students but losing black students and (b) that the level of racial segregation of suburban neighborhoods is not declining. We conclude from preliminary data that with each succeeding year, internal relocation, rather than moves to private school and out-migration from the metropolitan area, will be the major characteristic of student redistribution. If this is the case, the extent to which intra-system relocation results in racially integrated and stable neighborhoods should be a major research and policy focus.