Search

In this paper, we analyze the extent to which low-income countries integrate into the global knowledge production network. We develop an (undirected) research collaboration model based on which we identify the drivers of global research collaboration using publication data of the field Business and Economics from the Web of Science and macroeconomic data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Institute for Statistics. Network and dynamic panel regression techniques are employed. Our results show that (i) reciprocal preferential attachment and the homophily between countries reinforce scientific collaboration, (ii) there is no evidence that low-income countries are becoming better integrated into the global knowledge production over the years, despite their active participation in international reserach collaboration, while (iii) high-income countries show a basic willingness to cooperate with them, which, in turn, promotes the integration of low-income countries, although this willingness seems to decline; and (iv) as to low-income countries, they have little choice but to invest more in education and R&D in order to advance in the global knowledge production network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workers in the garment manufacturing industry are often subjected to violations of their rights and are exposed to low wages and difficult working conditions. In response to the exposure of these violations in the media, major fashion brands and retailers subject their suppliers to labour codes of conduct. Despite these codes of conduct being largely ineffective, this comparative case study of garment manufacturers operating from Lesotho and Eswatini illustrates that such codes provide workers and trade unions with access to bargaining leverage that they would otherwise not have. A framework with a synthesis of potential sources of workers' power is developed and related to global production networks, collective mobilisation, the nature of the state, as well as national and transnational scales of organising. Based on historical case studies of the two countries, this paper illustrates how unions in the two countries followed different approaches to using this source of power in relation to other sources of power. These approaches were shaped by their contexts and strategic choices. Theoretically, it is argued that sources of workers' power are analytically distinct, but are relational and operate best when seen as mutually reinforcing. The term 'power resource nexus' is used to frame this potential mutual reinforcement of sources of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alleviation of human suffering is a key driver of antipoverty praxis. Poverty is a human experience of suffering from the violence of development, which often uses animals as relief and is insufficient to understand multispecies endurances of development. Positioning suffering per se as a critical reason to rethink development, this article aims to politicize animals' emotional, physical, and psychological suffering from being not human in relation to the human in development and antipoverty praxis. Animal suffering, although sharing characteristics with sufferings of vulnerable humans in poverty, contains distinct harms that arise from being not human. This article brings together relational poverty politics and critical animal geographies to showcase the sociospatial suffering of animals, entrenched in their inherent commodity-labor status, in and against the grain of poverty, the corollary of racial-anthropocentric-capitalist global development. It focuses on animals in coercive labor in the brick kilns in India's periurban regions, sites of peripheral capitalism that are constitutive of global production, and frontiers of extreme (human) poverty, and ecological degradation. Attending to fleeting moments of "everyday multispecies brilliance" from the grounded interspecific realities of the brick kilns, the article introduces human–animal relations into relational poverty politics, to overturn the anthropocentric theoretical hegemony of development and poverty, and address animal and human suffering together toward an anti-anthropocentric, antipoverty development praxis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction and operation of collaborative production networks based on multi-subject collaboration is an important path and means for enterprises to adapt to personalized, diversified, and differentiated market demand. It is of great practical significance to identify the key collaborative subjects in the collaborative network and protect and maintain them to ensure its normal operation. To identify the key collaborative subjects in the collaborative network of traditional manufacturing enterprises, this paper proposes a method for identifying and evaluating the importance of nodes in traditional manufacturing enterprise collaborative networks. Firstly, the method uses four parameters, degree centrality, betweenness centrality, closeness centrality, and subgraph centrality, as node importance evaluation indexes, based on complex network theory. Secondly, the coefficient of variation method (CVM) is used to calculate the weights of evaluation indexes. The Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) based on the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is then used to comprehensively evaluate node importance and identify key nodes (key collaborative subjects) in the network. Finally, the proposed method's effectiveness, rationality, and scientific nature are verified by using the measurement index of network connectivity in combination with specific enterprise cases. The results show that the failure of key nodes has a more significant impact on network connectivity. Therefore, the node importance evaluation method based on Multiple Attribute Decision Making has better performance. It helps traditional manufacturing enterprises to focus on the protection and maintenance of the key collaborative subjects when coping with the competitive environment of the external market and provides a valuable reference for the normal operation of collaborative network organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper views China Production Network (CPN) as an integral component of the Global Production Network (GPN) and constructs null model (GIVCBN-I model) and the counterfactual model (GIVCBN-II or GIVCBN-III model) to identify and measure the potential industrial relocation risk exposure of CPN based on the Multi-Regional Input-Output (MRIO) table. The main findings are as follows. Firstly, Altasia will induce more of China's industrial and supply chains to break compared with ASEAN, which also means that strong industrial complementarity exists between Japan, South Korea, India, Bangladesh and the ASEAN member countries, enabling Altasia to have a more significant substitution effect on China. Secondly, the counterfactual models' network-level characteristic indicators are worse than those of the null model in economic terms, suggesting that removing trade barriers for intermediate goods within Altasia could lead to the decoupling of industrial sectors in the CPN, thereby accelerating the trend of China's industrial and supply chains relocating offshore. Thirdly, according to the comparison results of node-level characteristic indicators, Altasia has weakened China's influence scope, profitability, and robustness of risk within the global industrial and supply chains, but mainly concentrating on its resource-intensive and labor-intensive sectors rather than capital-intensive and technology-intensive sectors, which indicates that some China's industrial sectors still maintain substantial competitive advantages in the GPN. In sum, this paper provides theoretical guidance for identifying and analyzing the trends of industrial relocation in the Asia-Pacific region and helps industrial policymakers deepen the understanding of regional economic integration and its impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of trade facilitation factors on trade flows, with a particular focus on Global Value Chains (GVCs) in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Using the structural gravity model of international and intra-national trade and data covering the period from 2006 to 2018, we analyze the influence of maritime connectivity and cross-border trade-facilitation factors on trade in final and intermediate goods. Our findings indicate that both factors play pivotal roles in both agricultural and manufacturing subsectors’ trade. First, maritime connectivity has a heterogeneous effect on trade across sectors. It positively affects imports of final goods in textile products, basic metals, motor vehicles, and other machinery and equipment, as well as imports of intermediate inputs for fishing, rubber, machinery and equipment, and motor vehicles. Second, cross-border trade-facilitation factors have a significant influence mostly on trade of final goods in the manufacturing sector and agricultural intermediates showing also differential effects across subsectoral categories. This reveals that policies that improve maritime connectivity and reduce paperwork, time delays and transport costs promote trade integration within GVCs in the analyzed sectors. These findings underscore the sector-specific implications of trade facilitation measures and highlight the need for targeted policy interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European automotive industry is transitioning from combustion engines to electric vehicles but lags behind international competitors. This geoeconomic competition has contributed to the revival of industrial policy in the EU. However, EU competition policy restricts more vertical industrial policy approaches. In this context, the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs) have emerged as a novel governance tool. This article examines this transformation in EU industrial policy by focusing on the Battery IPCEIs. The article includes an in-depth case study of the Battery IPCEIs, using secondary literature and 11 expert interviews. It concludes that IPCEIs represent a gradual regulatory-developmental turn within EU industrial policy by drawing on developmental state theory in a European context, critical EU integration literature, and global production networks research. In response to geoeconomic competition and the region's lack of productive capacities, the EU is indirectly facilitating the development of European battery innovation and production networks by issuing direct state aid at the national level. However, the EU's participation in the subsidy race and the global green-tech race via "green" industrial policy indicates only a partial shift in the relationship between states and markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the global call to promote green production and achieve sustainable development, the proper use of the digital economy plays an important role. The deepening development of the digital economy has led to changes in the input of manufacturing factors and the structure of product demand, which in turn has led to corresponding changes in the level of green and sustainable development. This study employs a factor input-output nonexpectation SBM-DEM model to assess the green manufacturing efficiency of 273 prefecture-level and higher cities in China. The relationship between the digital economy and green manufacturing efficiency is analyzed based on this model. The rise of the digital economy is found to contribute to the increase in green manufacturing efficiency, albeit with a non-linear “inverted U-shaped” trend. At the same time, the current level of digital economy development is slowly improving but has not yet reached the inflection point of the “inverted Ushaped” curve, and digital economy development still has a positive impact on green manufacturing efficiency at the current level of development. Furthermore, government intervention is critical in moderating the inverted U-shaped link between the digital economy and green manufacturing efficiency, which has a major weakening effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the evolution of supply chains, shifting from Adam Smith's early observations to modern reflections on their vast, complex nature. Topics discussed include the philosophical concept of the sublime in relation to supply chains, the growing intricacy of global production networks, and the impact of technological advancements on logistics and global commerce.

This paper constructs a more unified measurement framework from the perspective of the Leontief inverse matrix and Ghosh inverse matrix (Ghosh). At the same time, referring to the four-term decomposition method of Leontief inverse matrix in Muradov (2016), this paper analyzes the structural decomposition of the cumulative tariff cost rate. Results show that (1) Overall, from 2000 to 2017, China's cumulative tariff cost rate, direct tariff cost rate, and multi-stage tariff cost rate all showed a downward trend, and the decline was greater than that of other countries (regions). China has strictly fulfilled its WTO accession commitments and has greatly reduced the tariff rate on imported intermediate goods. (2) With China's deep participation in the global value chain, the amplification effect of China's tariffs has increased from 2.57 in 2000 to 3.17 in 2017, and there is a certain degree of "amplification effect" (above 1.5) in tariffs in all countries in the world. (3) From the perspective of the contribution rate of various countries in the world, China contributes the most to the global cumulative tariff cost rate, which is due to the complexity of the global production network structure, rather than the excessively high tariff rate imposed by China on imported intermediate goods. In terms of policy implications, if China did not take the initiative to reduce tariffs, the structural changes in the global production network would lead to a larger global cumulative tariff cost rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses Japan's trade policy challenges and the need to rebuild a rules-based international order and resilient supply chains with the Global South. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) proposes three pillars for Japan's trade policy: contributing to a rules-based international economic order, building resilient supply chains, and building win-win relationships with the Global South. Experts evaluate the RCEP and CPTPP agreements, discuss India's decision not to join the RCEP, and highlight the importance of reviewing and expanding the CPTPP. The article also explores the relationship between Japan and China, the risks posed by China's weaponization of exports, and the need for Japan to diversify its economic ties. It emphasizes the perspectives of developing countries on the WTO and regional trade agreements and suggests that Japan should take a proactive role in creating a desirable global order. [Extracted from the article]

In the Republic of South Africa (RSA), reforms to existing and new water allocations have been aimed mainly at redressing the racial injustice of the past. Such reforms, however, have failed to materialise in the citrusproducing region of the Western Cape. This paper argues that the emergence of a strong Global Production Network (GPN) of citrus export at the time of rolling out of the water reforms has contributed, and continues to do so, to the failure of these reforms. The high quality and quantity requirements imposed by the GPN, we argue, necessitated the use of precision fertigation, which acted as an entry barrier to Western Cape citrus products. With access to specialised precision fertigation networks, the landed (white) commercial farmers were able to forge long-lasting relationships of trust and quality with the retailers of the citrus GPN and thus gain and maintain privileged access to it. Their strong position in the citrus GPN enabled three strategies of new water access to emerge, that are exclusively available to the established (white) commercial farmers, namely: (1) using water illicitly; (2) attaining a controlling stake in Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) partnerships; and (3) through access to the network of water consultants. New water access consolidates existing positions of growers in the GPN, making the position in the GPN and water expansion a mutually reinforcing phenomena. High GPN entry barriers have advantaged established commercial farmers and effectively impeded the intended introduction of more equitable water reforms in the region.

Chinese actors have emerged as major funders and developers of large-scale transnational infrastructure projects in Europe and beyond. Despite this profound shift, geographers have not yet arrived at a clear conceptualisation of such projects. We show how the literature is overly reliant on a functional view of the Chinese state, structural economic factors, single case studies, and bilateral relations, generating monocausal explanations of outcomes. We develop a new conceptual framework emphasising variegation driven by shifting assemblages of actors, dynamic strategic coupling, and multi-scalar processes of territorialisation. To operationalise our framework, we draw on process tracing and incorporated comparisons across cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine the changes in global value chains (GVCs) in the years 2020–2022 (times of the COVID-19 pandemic) compared to 2019 (last year before the pandemic). GVCs are illustrated by diagrams based on the statistics on international trade measured by value-added exports and imports. In this paper, the final demand approach is applied to measure international trade by value-added exports and imports and they were computed based on inter-country input-output tables delivered by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The catchphrase “Made in the World” makes an impression, but in reality, value chains are rarely global. They are rather regional with three centers. “Factory Europe”, “Factory Asia”, and “Factory America” can easily be identified in the years 2019–2022 as there were three large regional supply hubs in GVCs: Germany, China, and the United States. When the years 2020–2022 were compared to 2019, “Factory Asia” with center in China elevated their position in GVCs at the expense of “Factory Europe” with center in Germany and “Factory America with center in the USA.”

ABSTRACT Political corporate social responsibility (CSR) research focuses on how companies leverage their CSR efforts to improve public goods provision in countries where public governance is lacking. Previous studies, due to their limited analytical scope, have not thoroughly examined the dynamic nature of these governance gaps. Another missing puzzle is how certain actors in these countries, through their regular operations, independently facilitate political CSR opportunities – such as production network intervention (PNI) programmes. Positioning PNI programmes as brokers of political CSR, we investigate four such programmes in the Myanmar's garment industry during the early years of the country's reform. We conduct neo‐Gramscian analysis to examine how these programmes attempted to establish cultural and ideological leadership over CSR discourse and practice in the industry. We analyse the manufacturers’ responses to this contestation, which evolved with the introduction of a minimum wage, and discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the spirit of this exchange's call for more "methodological talk" in explanation, I suggest that polyphonic disunity that has prompted persistent calls in economic geography for some form of unificatory explanation may be pursued through opportunities in counterfactual and consilience explanations. These opportunities acknowledge a unificatory continuum that does not eschew explanatory autonomy while drawing multivoices and their methodologies into proximity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global production network (GPN) scholars increasingly focus on examining exclusionary processes in strategic coupling. However, attention has been given to structural coupling, where uneven outcomes often evolve through lead firms exploiting power asymmetries to foster their interests over regions. Functional and indigenous coupling, although acknowledged to have exclusions, are considered to be less likely for such outcomes due to assumed symmetrical power. This assumption has led to a lack of studies exploring not only how uneven outcomes evolve in indigenous coupling but also what territorial mechanisms are involved. This article addresses this gap by conceptualizing the notion of a statist transnational community (STC) as a crucial mechanism in indigenous coupling, and with potential to explain how asymmetrical relations can emerge and foster exclusionary processes. Based on qualitative methods, this article analyzes Brazil's integration into the aerospace GPN through indigenous coupling. First, it examines how the Brazilian developmental state, under a national developmental ideology, fostered coupling in São José dos Campos (SJC) by establishing institutions, regional assets, Embraer, and an aerospace industrial cluster. Second, it elucidates how the Brazilian state facilitated the formation of an STC crucial in establishing firms and creating and harnessing regional assets. Additionally, it reveals how and why the SJC STC is marked by relative symmetrical and cooperative relations, and encourages collaboration. Lastly, this article investigates a training partnership between Embraer and the Aeronautics Institute of Technology in SJC, disclosing how asymmetrical power relations can also be present in indigenous coupling, fostering social downgrading, especially in relation to labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This article contributes to the literature at the intersection of migration and global production networks (GPNs) by examining the role of labour market intermediaries (LMIs) for migrant workers. It demonstrates mediation processes by LMIs and elaborates on migration networks in the global labour market through qualitative and quantitative data. It examines the role of LMIs in responding to mechanisms in GPN, including zero inventory and just‐in‐time production, and the impact of private employment agents on migrant workers, particularly on their career paths. The article found that LMIs play an active role in the mediation and cooperation between migrant labour and firms and in shaping structural conditions for migrant workers in response to global competitive pressures. However, LMIs play a controversial role in social upgrading. Private LMIs are identified as having a negative impact on career paths of migrant workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, by using a lifecycle perspective, four stages related to the extraction, refining and processing of copper were identified. The different behaviors of countries in the import/export networks at the four stages synthetically reflect their position in the global network of copper production and consumption. The trade flows of four commodities related to the extraction, refining and processing of copper of 142 nations with population above 2 millions based on the UN Comtrade website (https://comtrade.un.org/data/), in five years from 2017 to 2021, were considered. The observed trade flows in each year have been modelled as a directed multilayer network. Then the countries have been grouped according to their structural equivalence in the international copper flow by using a Multilayer Stochastic Block Model. To put further insight in the obtained community structure of the countries, a deep learning model based on adapting the node2vec to a multilayer setting has been used to embed the countries in an Euclidean plane. To identify groups of nations that play the same role across time, some distances between the parameters obtained in consecutive years were introduced. We observe that 97 countries out of 142 consistently occupy the same position in the copper supply chain throughout the five years, while the other 45 move through different roles in the copper supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the debates on the effectiveness and legitimacy of global labour standards. Theoretically, the paper integrates literature on labour standards in global production networks with cognitive framing and sensemaking literature to capture decent work understandings of suppliers and to theoretically underpin their relevance for the debates on the legitimacy and effectiveness of global labour standards. Empirically, the study explores cognitive decent work frames of garment suppliers and discusses them in reference to global decent work frames. A thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with thirty owners and managers in Egypt and Jordan served to identify suppliers' decent work frames. Owners and managers dominantly framed decent work as a (paternalistic) family responsibility and as a business responsibility. Further notions that recurred across interviews were the framing of decent work as a human responsibility, religious (Islamic) responsibility, philanthropic responsibility, and regulatory responsibility. The findings show that supplier frames partly go beyond, partly undermine, and partly accord with global conceptualisations of decent work. They imply the need to strengthen and better communicate the human rights orientation of global labour standards and to give local social partners the autonomy to supplement and specify standards according to their context-specific needs. Global regulations otherwise risk crowding out informal, locally specific decent work practices that benefit workers in GPNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the impact of COVID-19 through a case study of Lowlands, a music festival in the Netherlands. Analysing how the Cultural and Creative Sector is affected by and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic has received growing attention among academics. This article contributes to this body of research by analysing the structure and dynamics of the production network of Lowlands, combining elements of the Global Production Network approach and Grabher’s project-ecology framework. With this novel lens, we unravel the embeddedness of linkages between Lowlands’ management and its partners. We conclude by showing how these strong ties are simultaneously Lowlands’ strength and weakness, as recursive collaborations create an efficient production process but are also prone to fall away in crises like COVID-19, leaving the management without reliable alternatives. However, bonds of trust and friendship motivate and underpin mutual support, and therefore form a crucial key for its resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the article is to present the results of research on the construction of cross-border mega-regions, specifically Cali-Baja, based on their nature and role in industrial development linked to global production networks, which promotes economic complementarity, and despite the process of corporatization that occurred at some point, the territorial dynamics itself prevailed. In methodological terms, semi-structured interviews were applied to key actors and information generated from other tools such as focus groups was recovered. It is concluded that the construction of the mega-regions located along the U.S.-Mexico border is the result of multiple factors, but ends up being a social construction of those who inhabit and live in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper builds common grounds for a future research agenda in the regional studies of evolutionary economic geography and global production networks. I put forward two 'troubling themes' of (geo)politics and heightened risks as the most disruptive forces in today's increasingly fragmented global economy and argue for their significance in regional studies throughout the post-pandemic 2020s. Massive global change through the reconfiguration of and strategic (de/re)coupling with global production networks will engender new path formation in regional transformation. In this analytical move from the global 'back again' to the regional, there are common questions on epistemology (causal explanations) and substantive issues (network/regional resilience, institutions/the state, inequalities/uneven development and new forms of regional policies) for both communities of researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an ongoing dialogue that explores how the global production network and evolutionary economic geography (EEG) literatures can make promising crossovers. This paper aims to contribute to this debate by outlining a theoretical-analytical approach to regional studies on global value chains (GVCs). Building on the EEG literature on relatedness, economic complexity and regional diversification, this approach aims to develop a better understanding of the ability of regions to develop new and upgrade existing GVCs, and why regions may experience the loss or downgrading of existing GVCs. We present the features of this relatedness/complexity approach to GVCs and discuss potential fields of applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geo‐political tensions and disruptions to global value chains have led policymakers to re‐evaluate their approach to globalisation. Many countries are considering friendshoring – trading primarily with countries sharing similar values – as a way of minimising exposure to weaponisation of trade and securing access to critical inputs. If followed through, this process has the potential to reverse global economic integration of recent decades. This article estimates the economic costs of friendshoring using a quantitative model incorporating inter‐country inter‐industry linkages. The results suggest that friendshoring may lead to real GDP losses of up to 4.7% of GDP in some economies. Thus, although friendshoring may provide insurance against extreme disruptions and increase the security of supply of vital inputs, it would come at a substantial cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a novel approach to the traditional constant market share (CMS) analysis recognizing the importance of global production networks and fragmentation that necessitate using trade in value added (TiVA) rather than gross trade. We discuss how the components of a CMS analysis need to be (re)interpreted and apply our Constant Value Added Share (CVAS) analysis to the Philippines in the years 1995–2020 using the latest TiVA 2023 dataset (released in November 2023) and compare CMS to CVAS in order to facilitate understanding the contribution of the novel approach. The CVAS analysis finds that while Philippine and world Value Added grew at par, the country lost competitiveness. Traditional CMS suggests a smaller loss of competitiveness. Our approach also identifies specific sectoral weaknesses (i.e., computer and electronics exports) and emerging strengths (technology-related business services) that are unclear in CMS analysis. We argue that Constant Value Added Share analysis is useful for assessing the global value chain performance of other developing countries as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the recent resurgence of interest in capitalism in social sciences and humanities fields. Scholars are reexamining capitalism and its relationship to uneven development and social difference. The article brings together papers from various disciplines, including geography, sociology, anthropology, and global political economy, to explore how these concepts intersect. The papers highlight the importance of understanding capitalism as an overdetermined whole and emphasize the role of spatial and social difference in its development. The authors also emphasize the importance of struggle and concrete social interventions in shaping the geographies and temporalities of uneven development. [Extracted from the article]

While the global production networks (GPNs) approach produces important conceptual insights into the causal factors influencing GPNs, studies have been less concerned with the temporal intricacies of decision-making by actors. This article extends the GPN approach by examining why and how firms in the Welsh automotive sector have constructed and performed particular temporalities in response to the upheavals of COVID. A process philosophy perspective is utilized for examining how temporalities are socially constructed by human actors through actual occasions. Actors weave the past, present, and future together in socially constructed temporalities, which are imbricated with the space-times of actual occasions. The article finds that the temporalities and space-times of actions to mediate COVID have been configured around reducing and maintaining costs, and increasing risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How have Central and Eastern European countries integrated into global production networks since the early 2000s? Have European Union accession, the Great Recession of 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic significantly altered their export profiles? Using cluster analysis for 11 economies between 2000 and 2021, we uncover persistent differentiation and deepening specialisation over time. Czechia, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia emerge as the manufacturing hub of the region. When broader exports are accounted for, these economies look similar to Poland, Croatia and Romania. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Bulgaria form a separate group that relies on more labour- and resource-intensive manufacturing goods, commodities and services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The breakthrough brought by generative adversarial networks (GANs) in computer vision (CV) applications has gained a lot of attention in different fields due to their ability to capture the distribution of a dataset and generate high-quality similar images. From one side, this technology has been rapidly adopted as an alternative to traditional applications and introduced novel perspectives in data augmentation, domain transfer, image expansion, image restoration, image segmentation, and super-resolution. From another side, we found that due to the lack of industrial datasets and the limitation for acquiring and accurately annotating new images, GANs form an exciting solution to generate new industrial image datasets or to restore and augment existing ones. Therefore, we introduce a review of the latest trend in GANs applications and project them in industrial use cases. We conducted our experiments with synthetic images and analyzed most of GAN's failures and image artifacts to provide training's best practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous cities worldwide employ business improvement districts (BIDs) to manage their central areas. This article analyses the contribution of BIDs to cities’ territorial brands. Employing a case study methodology, we utilize the “territorial brand in regional development” (TBRD) matrix for qualitative analysis of selected BIDs. The findings underscore BIDs’ role as a versatile territorial brand in regional development shaping strategic discussions and fostering local, regional, and global reputations. It can be concluded that BIDs significantly enhance the territorial brand of their cities, receiving endorsement across various scales. Furthermore, urban and regional development processes involve political and cultural discussions, and this article revealed that BIDs are an active player in these discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to reveal associations between firm strategies for vertical supply chain integration and strategy for horizontal R&D collaboration through the analysis of four Czech regions. Drawing on evolutionary economic geography and global production networks literature, we applied a combinatorial and dynamic view on firms' supply chain integration, R&D collaboration, and impact on competitiveness. Conceptually, we argue that companies not only produce and sell goods at different levels (global, national, regional), but are located in differently developed regions and innovation systems with different institutional qualities. Therefore, various modes of engagement within vertical supply chains and at the same time different R&D collaboration strategies influence competitiveness of firms. Empirically, we revealed that the vertical integration strategy drives levels of regional R&D collaboration for a firm. It turns out that globally more connected and technologically sophisticated firms are not highly interconnected by R&D collaboration within regional/national innovation systems. Moreover, technologically capable firms with little or no R&D collaboration may be highly profitable on average, but they are vulnerable in the long run. Furthermore, an intensive involvement in R&D collaboration had the highest resistance towards economic shocks. We also found statistically significant positive relationship with medium R&D collaboration and productivity of firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European automotive industry is transitioning from combustion engines to electric vehicles but lags behind international competitors. This geoeconomic competition has contributed to the revival of industrial policy in the EU. However, EU competition policy restricts more vertical industrial policy approaches. In this context, the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs) have emerged as a novel governance tool. This article examines this transformation in EU industrial policy by focusing on the Battery IPCEIs. The article includes an in-depth case study of the Battery IPCEIs, using secondary literature and 11 expert interviews. It concludes that IPCEIs represent a gradual regulatory-developmental turn within EU industrial policy by drawing on developmental state theory in a European context, critical EU integration literature, and global production networks research. In response to geoeconomic competition and the region’s lack of productive capacities, the EU is indirectly facilitating the development of European battery innovation and production networks by issuing direct state aid at the national level. However, the EU’s participation in the subsidy race and the global green-tech race via “green” industrial policy indicates only a partial shift in the relationship between states and markets.

In the context of economic globalization, while multinational enterprises from developed countries occupy a high-end position in the global value chain, enterprises from developing countries are often marginalized in the world market. In China, resource-based state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are tasked with the mission of safeguarding resource security, and their internationalization development ideas and strategic deployment are significantly and fundamentally different from those of other non-state-owned enterprises and large multinational corporations. This study provides ideas for the globalization policies of enterprises in developing countries. We consider J Group in western China as a case and discuss its productive investment and global production network development from 2010 to 2019. We found that J Group was ‘partly’ globalized, and there are multiple core nodes with the characteristics of centralized and decentralized coexistence in the production network; in addition, the overall layout centre shifted to Southeast Asia and China; however, its global production was restricted by the enterprise’s investment security considerations, support and restrictions of the home country, political security risk of the host country, and sanctions from the West. These findings provide insights for future research: under the wave of anti-globalization and ‘internal circulation as the main body’, resource SOEs should consider the potential risk of investment, especially keeping the middle and downstream industrial chain in China as much as possible.

Combining the extracted tongue features with other medical indicators can effectively judge the diseases of patients. The previous work usually only analyzes a certain feature of the tongue body and is unable to extract multiple features simultaneously. In this study, a multi‐label classification network named TIM‐Net is proposed, which integrates global and local features to achieve multi‐label intelligent diagnosis of Chinese medicine tongue images. First, a feature extraction network based on ResNet is proposed to capture the features of tongue images more sufficiently. Then, a multi‐label classification algorithm fusing global and local features is proposed, and targeted screening operations are carried out on the class‐related feature maps based on global confidence. In addition, a logical masking algorithm is proposed to ensure that the local features can only correct the feature labels they represent, and do not interfere with other feature labels. The classification accuracy is further improved by using local feature confidence and correcting the global classification results. Finally, the experimental results indicate that the classification accuracy of the tongue images is gradually improved through optimizing the feature extraction network and fusing local features, and it exceeds other state‐of‐the‐art multi‐label classification networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the large evidence of the recent globalization phenomenon at national level, very little is known about the involvement of regional economies in Global Value Chains (GVCs). Instead, the regional dimension of GVCs is of primary importance since regions require an absolute advantage to be part of an international production chain. It can in fact be easily the case that within the same country both the participation and the gains from GVCs strongly differ among regions. In going to the territorial roots of GVCs, the paper aims to conceptualize a taxonomy of different modes in which regions can be involved in GVCs, based on different intensity of participation and rewarding conditions. Based on regional trade in value added matrices, the taxonomy is applied to the manufacturing sector at NUTS2 regions in Europe, combining two indicators of regional participation and 'terms of trade' imposed in the chain. Although national patterns are visible, and a clear divide between Eastern and Western Europe emerges, the modes of involvement are highly diversified within countries. Moreover, through a multinomial logit model, the local characteristics associated with the different roles that regions can have within GVCs are looked for. Their identification has far-reaching normative consequences that intervene in the capacity of regions to gain from participation in GVCs, and to mitigate the interregional income distribution effects that this involvement may cause. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, have garnered significant attention in scholarship and beyond. Geographical work on cryptocurrencies has focussed on how their energy demand interacts with local communities and economies. Less is said about the organization of cryptoasset firms and their associated demands. This paper illuminates the complex geographies of one such firm, Bitfury Group, to investigate the global and national forms and structures such companies take and the factors encouraging them to concentrate operations in certain areas. To investigate the latter, we adopt the case study of Bitfury's operations in Georgia, a South-Caucasian country where its presence is significant. We adapt Haberly et al.'s analytical framework to explore Bitfury's geographical dimensions. We highlight how cheap electricity, regulatory and taxation regimes, personal encounters and personalities, and the materialities of hardware and energy-saving technology define these geographies and illuminate how Bitfury actively curates advantageous regulatory spaces. We encourage future work exploring Blockchain and Bitcoin technologies to understand the companies involved as simultaneously material and virtual, and as centrepieces in global networks interweaving production and finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the various proposed models for practically developing a circular economy system, industrial symbiosis (IS) is one of the most promising. This paper aims at better understanding the extent to which regional industrial symbiosis practices have been internalized in companies and, second, at identifying the most important barriers that impede a company from the adoption of such practices at regional level. The research is grounded on original data collected using a questionnaire. The results allowed the division of firms into four clusters corresponding to different levels of adoption: (i) the perfectly symbiont companies that undertake all the proposed industrial symbiosis practices; (ii) the non-adopters that are low in terms of IS activities; (iii) the resource savers that focus on the use of by-products or waste from other companies; and the (iv) outbound activity optimizers that concentrate on the sale of their by-products and waste to other companies. Moreover, the results contributed to the identification of regulatory constraints and high investment costs and difficulties in finding financing as significant causes that hinder companies in the adoption of regional industrial symbiosis practices, while networking and logistic barriers appear not to be relevant. To overcome these barriers and to promote the adoption of IS at regional level, supporting the transition towards the circular paradigm, several political and managerial suggestions are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognising the intricate link between ports and regional economies, this study investigates the spillover effects of neighbouring ports on regional industrial diversification and economic resilience. Analysing South Korea's 2006–20 export data from port and neighbouring port regions, it uncovers the unique feature of ports as a distinctive knowledge source within their port regions, mainly attributable to the respective logistic and trade systems governing similar product groups. The paper confirms that ports facilitate industrial diversification through spillover effects when it is related with the regional industries. Emphasising ports' role in strengthening economic resilience, it highlights their significance in nurturing emerging industries post-crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: When is it more profitable for multinational manufacturers to manufacture in high-cost environments and when in low-cost environments? While the literature offers many cues to answer this question, too little empirical research directly addresses this. In this study, we quantitatively and empirically investigate the financial effect of companies' production footprint in low-cost and high-cost environments for different types of production networks. Design/methodology/approach: Using the data of 770 multinational manufacturing companies, we analyze the relationship between production footprints and profitability during four calendar semesters in 2018 and 2019 (N = 2,940), investigating the moderating role of companies' production network type. Findings: We find that companies with networks distinguished by both high levels of product complexity and process sophistication profit the most from producing to a greater extent in high-cost countries. For these companies, shifting production to low-cost countries would be associated with negative performance implications. Practical implications: Our findings suggest that the production geography of companies should be attuned to their network type, as defined by the companies' process sophistication and product complexity. Manufacturing in low-cost countries is not always the best choice, as doing so can adversely affect profits if the products are highly innovative and the production processes are complex. Originality/value: We contribute to the scarce empirical literature on managing global production networks and provide a data-driven analysis that contributes to answering some of the enduring questions in this critical area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of uncertain economic environments urban agglomerations play a crucial role in economic development, reshaping industrial chains and fostering inter-city cooperation. This study employs the Global Production Network (GPN) theory to enhance our understanding of how cities integrate into regions, emphasizing the often-overlooked governmental influence in strategic coupling processes. In examining the evolution of China's smartphone industry within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) this research categorizes 19,599 smartphone companies into five distinct groups. Through analyzing their spatial distribution and geographical linkage the study identifies four strategic coupling modes based on the localization of assets, considering spatial influence and technological complexity along horizontal and vertical dimensions. Structural and institutional elements within these modes are also explored. The research uncovers unique integration patterns among nine cities in the GBA's mobile industry, revealing distinct spatial clusters rooted in technological, resource and innovation factors. Crucially, local policies play a pivotal role. Cities such as Shenzhen and Dongguan emerge as technology hubs, contrasting with Foshan and Zhongshan, which leverage resource advantages. The spatial impact, contingent on specific assets, underscores the necessity for nuanced top-down coupling methods in regional development. Moreover, the study emphasizes the significance of nurturing innovation links, not only between leading companies but also among midstream and downstream enterprises, enhancing cities' strategic coupling capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces the concept of geopolitical decoupling in global production networks (GPNs). Geopolitical decoupling is imposed on coupling participants by geopolitical forces that pressure transnational corporations to exit host regions/economies by cutting investment, production, and trade links with host country firms and industries. It also aims to disrupt inside-out trade, investment, and production links of host country firms abroad. The article identifies the basic features of geopolitical decoupling, the central role of states in geopolitical decoupling, the strategic responses of firms to deal with decoupling pressures, and the state strategies to cope with the negative effects of geopolitical decoupling in affected regions/economies. Empirically, the article investigates geopolitical decoupling on the example of the Iranian automotive industry, which experienced three geopolitical decouplings from automotive industry GPNs since 1979. It demonstrates the short- and long-term effects of geopolitical decoupling and recoupling on the Iranian automotive industry in the context of the strategic responses by the state and the political struggles over the nature of the state industrial development policy in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]