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The Interaction Between Strategic Coupling and Industrial Upgrading: A Framework

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Local Dynamics of Industrial Upgrading

Part of the book series: Economic Geography ((ECOGEO))

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Abstract

In an era of globalization, the territorial ensembles of economic development, such as places, cities, and regions, are interconnected into complex production networks (Amin 1998; 2002). What makes globalization different from earlier stages is that the global shift of production networks breaks up a commodity chain into many segments which are geographically separated among different while interconnected sites. By plugging into these overarching production networks, firms in latecomer regions can receive the opportunities of upgrading to learn from TNCs. To many latecomer economies presently, attracting foreign investment or export-oriented industrialization has become a well-known tool for promoting economic growth. However, whether latecomer firms are able to catch up with foreign firms and achieve industrial upgrading is in question. Without upgrading, local firms are not competitive and highly substitutable.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This refers to the spatial configurations of heterogeneous relations among actors and structures through which power and identities are played out and become efficacious (Massey 1979; Yeung 2005: 38).

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  1. School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Yi Liu

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Liu, Y. (2020). The Interaction Between Strategic Coupling and Industrial Upgrading: A Framework. In: Local Dynamics of Industrial Upgrading. Economic Geography. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4297-8_3

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