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The political economy of global production networks: regional industrial change and differential upgrading in the East European clothing industry

Author

Listed:
  • Adrian Smith
  • John Pickles
  • Milan Bucek
  • Rudolf Pástor
  • Bob Begg

Abstract

Recent years have been testing times for the Eastern European clothing sector. Following two decades of deepening integration into European production networks, the sector has been struggling with the removal of trade quotas, increasing competitive pressures and the global economic crisis. This article takes a long-term view of the trajectories of change in the East European clothing industry drawing on the experience of the Slovak Republic. It examines the regional economic transformations that have resulted, how regional concentrations of clothing production sustained employment during the 1990s, and how tightening competitive pressures have unravelled these regional production systems leading to a differentiated landscape of firm-level upgrading strategies. The article argues that understandings of firm and regional upgrading and downgrading need to be attentive to the role of labour in the tightening landscape of ‘relative competitiveness’ and the political economy of regional integration policies, foreign ownership and the global economic crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Adrian Smith & John Pickles & Milan Bucek & Rudolf Pástor & Bob Begg, 2014. "The political economy of global production networks: regional industrial change and differential upgrading in the East European clothing industry," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 14(6), pages 1023-1051.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jecgeo:v:14:y:2014:i:6:p:1023-1051.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jeg/lbt039
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    Cited by:

    1. Gereffi, Gary, 2015. "Global value chains, development and emerging economies," MERIT Working Papers 2015-047, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    2. Ewa Cieślik, 2022. "A New Era Is Beginning in Central and Eastern Europe: Information and Communication Technology Services Exceed Manufacturing in the Global Production Chain," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(4), pages 2607-2639, December.
    3. Oliver Klein & Piotr Pachura & Christine Tamasy, 2016. "Globalizing Production Networks," Polish Journal of Management Studies, Czestochowa Technical University, Department of Management, vol. 13(2), pages 81-89, June.
    4. Ziliang Liu & Shengjun Zhu, 2021. "Changing institutional context and regional industrial dynamics: New evidence from the establishment of administrative approval centers in China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 1271-1294, September.
    5. John Rand & Paula Castro Rodriguez & Finn Tarp & Neda Trifković, 2019. "The governance of global value chains, the state, and small businesses: The case of timber in Myanmar," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-78, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Lobanov, M. & Zvezdanovic Lobanova, J. & Zvezdanovic, M., 2022. "Typologization of industrial systems in the countries of Central-Eastern and South-Eastern Europe," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 56(4), pages 92-122.
    7. Mike Morris & Leonhard Plank & Cornelia Staritz, 2016. "Regionalism, end markets and ownership matter: Shifting dynamics in the apparel export industry in Sub Saharan Africa," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(7), pages 1244-1265, July.
    8. Leonhard Plank & Cornelia Staritz, 2015. "Global competition, institutional context and regional production networks: up- and downgrading experiences in Romania’s apparel industry," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 8(3), pages 421-438.
    9. Crispian Fuller & Nicholas A Phelps, 2018. "Revisiting the multinational enterprise in global production networks," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 139-161.
    10. Lehocký Filip & Rusnák Jaroslav, 2016. "Regional specialization and geographic concentration: experiences from Slovak industry," Miscellanea Geographica. Regional Studies on Development, Sciendo, vol. 20(3), pages 5-13, September.
    11. Henry Wai-chung Yeung, 2015. "Regional development in the global economy: A dynamic perspective of strategic coupling in global production networks," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(1), pages 1-23, March.

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