IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/entreg/v24y2012i3-4p143-159.html

Small and medium enterprises as pioneers in the expansion of global production networks: A case study of the Japanese electronics industry in Guangdong, China

Author

Listed:
  • Yung-Hsing Guo

Abstract

Japan has been the largest source country of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, excluding overseas Chinese territories and tax havens. However, Japan's large-scale but relatively closed production networks have received little discussion in previous research. Two peaks in Japanese investment can be distinguished: the first led by the electronics industry in the mid-1990s and the second by the automotive industry after 2003. Cross-border production network building in the electronics industry is quite different from the scenarios of conventional global production networks (GPN) theory, where leading firms dominate the building of global production networks. In this paper, I demonstrate that in the development of the electronics industry, the institutional advantage small and medium enterprises have of knowing how to operate production bases in Southern China has enabled them to guide leading firms in building cross-border production networks.

Suggested Citation

  • Yung-Hsing Guo, 2012. "Small and medium enterprises as pioneers in the expansion of global production networks: A case study of the Japanese electronics industry in Guangdong, China," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3-4), pages 143-159, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:entreg:v:24:y:2012:i:3-4:p:143-159
    DOI: 10.1080/08985626.2012.670910
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/08985626.2012.670910
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/08985626.2012.670910?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xiaolan Fu & V. N. Balasubramanyam, 2005. "Exports, Foreign Direct Investment and Employment: The Case of China," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 607-625, April.
    2. Liu, Xiaming & Wang, Chengang & Wei, Yingqi, 2001. "Causal links between foreign direct investment and trade in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(2-3), pages 190-202.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Olena Havrylchyk & Sandra Poncet, 2007. "Foreign Direct Investment in China: Reward or Remedy?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(11), pages 1662-1681, November.
    2. Nguyen Phuc Canh & Nguyen Thanh Binh & Su Dinh Thanh & Christophe Schinckus, 2020. "Determinants of foreign direct investment inflows: The role of economic policy uncertainty," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 161, pages 159-172.
    3. Faria, João Ricardo & Mollick, André Varella & Albuquerque, Pedro H. & León-Ledesma, Miguel A., 2009. "The effect of oil price on China's exports," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 793-805, December.
    4. Unbreen Qayyum & Zafar Mahmood, 2013. "Inter-linkage between Foreign Direct Investment and Foreign Trade in Pakistan: Are they Complements or Substitute?," PIDE-Working Papers 2013:91, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    5. Giovanni Dosi & Xiaodan Yu, 2017. "Technological catching-up, sales dynamics and employment growth: evidence from China's manufacturing firms," LEM Papers Series 2017/27, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    6. Yuqing Xing, 2008. "FDI in China: Facts and Impacts on China and the World Economy," Working Papers EMS_2008_03, Research Institute, International University of Japan.
    7. Taxiarchis Delis & Dimitrios Kyrkilis, 2017. "Locational Concentration of Foreign Direct Investment in China: a Cluster Factor-Based Analysis," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 8(4), pages 1115-1132, December.
    8. Yanfeng Liu & Miao Su & Jinjing Zhao & Sally Martin & Kum Fai Yuen & Choong-Bae Lee, 2023. "The determinants of China’s outward foreign direct investment: a vector error correction model analysis of coastal and landlocked countries," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 29-56, February.
    9. Das, Papri, 2025. "Unlocking potentials: The impact of human capital investment in youth informal employment in emerging markets and developing economies," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    10. Rudra P. Pradhan & Mak B. Arvin & Mahendhiran S. Nair & John H. Hall & Sara E. Bennett, 2026. "Financial Market Structures, Financial Market Openness, and the Innovation-Growth Nexus? Evidence from Developing Countries," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 33(1), pages 171-211, March.
    11. Lichter, Andreas & Peichl, Andreas & Siegloch, Sebastian, 2015. "The own-wage elasticity of labor demand: A meta-regression analysis," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 94-119.
    12. Hande Aksoz Yilmaz, 2021. "Panel Data Model Analysis on the Relationship Between Export and Employment: The Case of OECD Countries," Journal of Economic Policy Researches, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 8(2), pages 115-139, July.
    13. Mebratu Seyoum & Renshui Wu & Jihong Lin, 2014. "Foreign Direct Investment and Trade Openness in Sub-Saharan Economies: A Panel Data Granger Causality Analysis," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 82(3), pages 402-421, September.
    14. Trevor Buck & Xiaohui Liu & Yingqi Wei & Xiaming Liu, 2007. "The trade development path and export spillovers in China: A missing link?," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 47(5), pages 683-706, September.
    15. Sangjoon Jun, 2015. "The Nexus between FDI and Growth in the SAARC Member Countries," East Asian Economic Review, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, vol. 19(1), pages 39-70.
    16. Adams, Kweku & Attah-Boakye, Rexford & Yu, Honglan & Chu, Irene & Mali, Dafydd, 2024. "African Continental Free Trade Area and Regional Trade in ICT and Digital Technologies," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(4).
    17. Mustafa Çakir & Alain Kabundi, 2017. "Transmission of China's Shocks to the BRIS Countries," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 85(3), pages 430-454, September.
    18. Zhang, Jianhong & Jacobs, Jan & Witteloostuijn, Arjen van, 2004. "Multinational enterprises, foreign direct investment and trade in China : A cointegration and Granger-causality approach," CCSO Working Papers 200413, University of Groningen, CCSO Centre for Economic Research.
    19. Yanfeng Liu & Xue Li & Xiaonan Zhu & Min-Kyu Lee & Po-Lin Lai, 2023. "The theoretical systems of OFDI location determinants in global north and global south economies," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    20. Radovan Kastratović, 2020. "The impact of foreign direct investment on host country exports: A meta‐analysis," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(12), pages 3142-3183, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:entreg:v:24:y:2012:i:3-4:p:143-159. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/TEPN20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.