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From Strategic Coupling to Recoupling and Decoupling: Restructuring Global Production Networks and Regional Evolution in China

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  • Chun Yang

Abstract

The global production networks (GPNs) perspective, especially its focal concept of 'strategic coupling' has been widely applied to regional studies in the era of globalization. The 2000s, especially the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, has witnessed a dramatic restructuring of the governance structure of GPNs; the effects on regional evolution have, however, been understudied. Echoing to MacKinnon's [(2012) Beyond strategic coupling: Reassessing the firm-region Nexus in global production networks, Journal of Economic Geography , 12, pp. 227--245] recent plea for conceptualizing the types, degree and depth of strategic coupling in the GPNs framework, this paper postulates that regional trajectories have been reshaped by the transition from strategic coupling to recoupling and decoupling, as a result of regional selection and abandonment of transnational corporations (TNCs) in host regions in China. Based on updated field investigation and in-depth interviews during the period of mid-2008 and early 2012, this paper examines and compares the transformation of the cross-border production networks driven by Hong Kong and Taiwan-based TNCs, particularly their divergent engagements in decoupling from source regions in coastal China, e.g. the Pearl River Delta and recoupling with the inland provinces, such as Sichuan and Hubei. Particular attention is paid to the changing power relations among TNCs and concerned regions with the emergence of key supplier-led domestic market-oriented production networks in China. Through developing an evolutionary framework on strategic coupling, the paper puts forward pertinent topics on the research agenda to explore dynamic interaction between GPN restructuring and regional evolution in the contemporary global economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Chun Yang, 2013. "From Strategic Coupling to Recoupling and Decoupling: Restructuring Global Production Networks and Regional Evolution in China," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(7), pages 1046-1063, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:eurpls:v:21:y:2013:i:7:p:1046-1063
    DOI: 10.1080/09654313.2013.733852
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Olivier Cattaneo & Gary Gereffi & Cornelia Staritz, 2010. "Global Value Chains in a Postcrisis World : A Development Perspective," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2509, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Henrik Brynthe Lund & Markus Steen, 2019. "Make at home or abroad? Manufacturing reshoring through a GPN lens," PEGIS geo-disc-2019_09, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    2. Bill Pritchard & Elen Welch & Guillermo Umana Restrepo & Lachlan Mitchell, 2023. "How do financialised agri-corporate investors acquire farmland? Analysing land investment in an Australian agricultural region, 2004–2019," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(5), pages 1037-1058.
    3. Kangmin Wu & Yang Wang & Yuyao Ye & Hongou Zhang & Guangqing Huang, 2019. "Relationship Between the Built Environment and the Location Choice of High-Tech Firms: Evidence from the Pearl River Delta," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-21, July.
    4. Robert Hassink & Chun Yang & Tianlan Fu & Lixun Li, 2017. "Emerging Adaptation of Local Clusters in China in a Shifting Global Economy: Evidence from the Furniture Cluster in Houjie Town, Dongguan," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(2), pages 214-232, June.
    5. Chun Yang & Canfei He, 2017. "Transformation of China's ‘World Factory’: Production Relocation and Export Evolution of the Electronics Firms," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 108(5), pages 571-591, October.
    6. Ron Boschma, 2021. "Global Value Chains from an Evolutionary Economic Geography perspective: a research agenda," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2134, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Nov 2021.
    7. Huiwen Gong & Robert Hassink & Cassandra C Wang, 2022. "Strategic coupling and institutional innovation in times of upheavals: the industrial chain chief model in Zhejiang, China [Institutional change in economic geography]," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 15(2), pages 279-303.
    8. Huiwen Gong & Robert Hassink & Cassandra Wang, 2021. "Strategic coupling and regional resilience in times of uncertainty: the industrial chain chief model in Zhejiang, China," PEGIS geo-disc-2021_06, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    9. Qidi Ji & Weidong Liu & Tao Song & Boyang Gao, 2022. "The Social Barrier of Strategic Coupling: A Case Study of the Letpadaung Copper Mine in Myanmar," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-19, June.
    10. 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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