GLOBAL PRODUCTION NETWORKS, STRATEGIC COUPLING AND THE DYNAMICS OF INDUSTRIAL UPGRADING IN PEARL RIVER DELTA, CHINA

Abstract

While export-oriented industrialization has become a well-known strategy for promoting industrial growth in a latecomer region, whether local firms can catch up with transnational corporations is still in question. By using the concept of strategic coupling, this thesis proposes a four-fold typology of coupling to interpret the industrial dynamics of latecomer regions. It argues that the evolutionary nature of strategic coupling and changing institutional-spatial conditions are the key to explain local upgrading, while not just the pre-determined pattern of industrial governance. The case of the Pearl River Delta in South China is used as an illustration. This thesis found that changing institutional environment, the growing body of regional assets and emerging huge domestic markets are important institutional-spatial conditions that foster the variety of coupling and lead to different outcomes of local upgrading.