Henry Wai-chung Yeung - Böcker

Accelerating processes of economic globalization have fundamentally reshaped the organization of the global economy towards much greater integration and functional interdependence through cross-border economic activity. In this interconnected world system, a new form of economic organization has emerged: Global Production Networks (GPNs). This brings together a wide array of economic actors, most notably capitalist firms, state institutions, labour unions, consumers and non-government organizations, in the transnational production of economic value. National and sub-national economic development in this highly interdependent global economy can no longer be conceived of, and understood within, the distinct territorial boundaries of individual countries and regions. Instead, global production networks are organizational platforms through which actors in these different national or regional economies compete and cooperate for a larger share of the creation, transformation, and capture of value through transnational economic activity. They are also vehicles for transferring the value captured between different places. This book ultimately aims to develop a theory of global production networks that explains economic development in the interconnected global economy. While primarily theoretical in nature, it is well grounded in cutting-edge empirical work in the parallel and highly impactful strands of social science literature on the changing organization of the global economy relating to global commodity chains (GCC), global value chains (GVC), and global production networks (GPN).

Accelerating processes of economic globalization have fundamentally reshaped the organization of the global economy towards much greater integration and functional interdependence through cross-border economic activity. In this interconnected world system, a new form of economic organization has emerged: Global Production Networks (GPNs). This brings together a wide array of economic actors, most notably capitalist firms, state institutions, labour unions, consumers and non-government organizations, in the transnational production of economic value. National and sub-national economic development in this highly interdependent global economy can no longer be conceived of, and understood within, the distinct territorial boundaries of individual countries and regions. Instead, global production networks are organizational platforms through which actors in these different national or regional economies compete and cooperate for a larger share of the creation, transformation, and capture of value through transnational economic activity. They are also vehicles for transferring the value captured between different places. This book ultimately aims to develop a theory of global production networks that explains economic development in the interconnected global economy. While primarily theoretical in nature, it is well grounded in cutting-edge empirical work in the parallel and highly impactful strands of social science literature on the changing organization of the global economy relating to global commodity chains (GCC), global value chains (GVC), and global production networks (GPN).

Most books that analyse the crucial subject of globalisation only look at it from a western perspective. This is the first detailed study to look at globalisation specifically in the Asia-Pacific region. An impressive collection of leading, interdisciplinary scholars explore various dimensions of globalisation and their relationship to development processes in the region.

Most books that analyse the crucial subject of globalisation only look at it from a western perspective. This is the first detailed study to look at globalisation specifically in the Asia-Pacific region. An impressive collection of leading, interdisciplinary scholars explore various dimensions of globalisation and their relationship to development processes in the region.

Chinese Capitalism in a Global Era examines the dynamic ways in which millions of ethinic Chinese in East and Southeast Asian economies organize their economic activities. It analyses how Chinese capitalism has changed under conditions of contemporary globalization and anticipates what the future holds for it. The book challenges the conventional notion of Chinese cpitalism as 'crony capitalism', based around kinship networks and untouched by globalization.

Examines the ways in which millions of ethnic Chinese in East and Southeast Asian economies organize their economic activities. This book analyses how Chinese capitalism has changed under conditions of contemporary globalization and anticipates what the future holds for it. It also challenges the conventional notion of Chinese capitalism.

Significant historical and geographical differences account for the many processes and trajectories of regional development in East Asia. These historical and geographical specificities in East Asia have prompted serious re-examination of existing theories in regional development, and in particular the "new regionalism" approach associated with such ideas as the learning region, institutional thickness, relational assets, and regional innovation system. This book brings together a group of leading researchers specializing in local and regional development in East Asian economies. Through in-depth empirical studies of specific regions and localities, these authors offer fresh and innovative perspectives on how regions evolve and develop over time in the world’s most dynamic macro-regional economy. In particular, their work points to the critical importance of local and trans-local processes in shaping regional development trajectories.The book is timely given that the debate on the nature and dynamics of regional development in both academic and policy circles has now moved on. From the earlier focus on endogenous regional assets (such as localized networks of association and trust), scholars and policymakers are now analyzing the complex relationship between economic globalization and regional change. This high calibre collection makes a significant contribution to the literature on local and regional development in Asia and provides an important resource for researchers, students, and policy makers interested in East Asia. This book was published as a special issue of Regional Studies.

Significant historical and geographical differences account for the many processes and trajectories of regional development in East Asia. These historical and geographical specificities in East Asia have prompted serious re-examination of existing theories in regional development, and in particular the "new regionalism" approach associated with such ideas as the learning region, institutional thickness, relational assets, and regional innovation system. This book brings together a group of leading researchers specializing in local and regional development in East Asian economies. Through in-depth empirical studies of specific regions and localities, these authors offer fresh and innovative perspectives on how regions evolve and develop over time in the world’s most dynamic macro-regional economy. In particular, their work points to the critical importance of local and trans-local processes in shaping regional development trajectories.The book is timely given that the debate on the nature and dynamics of regional development in both academic and policy circles has now moved on. From the earlier focus on endogenous regional assets (such as localized networks of association and trust), scholars and policymakers are now analyzing the complex relationship between economic globalization and regional change. This high calibre collection makes a significant contribution to the literature on local and regional development in Asia and provides an important resource for researchers, students, and policy makers interested in East Asia. This book was published as a special issue of Regional Studies.

`This book skillfully navigates the shoals of place and space to explain the intricacies of globalization. For those interested in the changing geography of global capitalism, Peck and Yeung is a "must read"' - James H Mittelman, American University

Remaking the Global Economy offers a state -of-the-art survey of geographical perspectives on the restructuring and reorganization of the global economy. With contributions from leading figures in the globalization debate, the book explores the latest thinking and research, as well as the enduring controversies, across a range of interrelated issues, including:

- firm strategies and business knowledge

- interactions between firms and nation states

- production and innovation systems

- transnationalism and labour markets

- state restructuring.

Each of the specially commissioned chapters presents interdisciplinary insights into the complex processes of economic globalization and their impact on the organization of firms, markets, industries, regions, and institutions. An integrated and comprehensive account, this is a résumé of the latest work in the literature on globalization that will provide a detailed map of the geography of the global economy.

`This book skillfully navigates the shoals of place and space to explain the intricacies of globalization. For those interested in the changing geography of global capitalism, Peck and Yeung is a "must read"' - James H Mittelman, American University

Remaking the Global Economy offers a state -of-the-art survey of geographical perspectives on the restructuring and reorganization of the global economy. With contributions from leading figures in the globalization debate, the book explores the latest thinking and research, as well as the enduring controversies, across a range of interrelated issues, including:

- firm strategies and business knowledge

- interactions between firms and nation states

- production and innovation systems

- transnationalism and labour markets

- state restructuring.

Each of the specially commissioned chapters presents interdisciplinary insights into the complex processes of economic globalization and their impact on the organization of firms, markets, industries, regions, and institutions. An integrated and comprehensive account, this is a résumé of the latest work in the literature on globalization that will provide a detailed map of the geography of the global economy.

THEORY AND EXPLANATION IN GEOGRAPHY"With this book Henry Yeung puts Geography back into the driver's seat of new theory development. Foregrounding mid-range theories and mechanism-based explanations, he offers a pragmatic approach that has the capacity to shape the wider social sciences for years to come. The timing of this intervention is pitch-perfect, as scholars search for ways to understand and intervene in an increasingly distrustful and polarized world."—KATHARYNE MITCHELL, Distinguished Professor, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA"In Theory and Explanation in Geography Yeung presents us with a rare thing - an argument for geographical theory with forms of causal explanation at its heart. The book is both modest and ambitious. Modest in its insistence on mid-level theory without a call for some new “turn” or advocacy for any particular approach. Ambitious in its insistence that existing theoretical traditions are inadequate or incomplete insofar as they lack causal explanatory power. Geographers will be inspired and/or infuriated by Yeung’s arguments in this provocative and cogently argued call to theoretical arms for many years to come."—Tim Cresswell, Ogilvie Professor of Geography, University of Edinburgh, UK"Critical human geography possesses a distinctive theory culture—pluralist, creative, distributed, restless, contested—prone to “turning,” wary of orthodoxies and fixed positions. In this original and provocative contribution, the leading economic geographer Henry Yeung steps out beyond his home turf to engage styles and practices of theorizing across this diverse field, carving out a new remit and rubric for middle-range theorizing."—JAMIE PECK, Canadian Research Chair and Distinguished University Scholar, University of British Columbia, CanadaGrounded in a generous reading of a multitude of critical approaches in human geography and their diverse conceptions of theory, Theory and Explanation in Geography draws upon cutting-edge debates on the mechanism-based approach to theory and explanation in analytical sociology, political science, and the philosophy of social sciences to inform current and future geographical thinking on theory. This consolidated conceptual work represents an extension and much further development of the author's well-cited works on relational geography, critical realism and causal explanation, process-based methodology, globalization and the theory of global production networks, and "theorizing back" and situated knowledges that were published in leading journals in Geography.The work has several chapters that identify new directions for Geography’s current and future engagement with the wider social sciences and relevant research agendas in geographical thought. Its main chapters provide the necessary conceptual toolkits for mobilizing such an expanding research program in the 2020s and beyond. Compared to typical texts on geographical thought, this book is less retrospective and historical and more prospective in nature. Detailing why and how mid-range explanatory theories can be better developed through causal mechanisms and relational thinking that have been revitalized in the social sciences, Theory and Explanation in Geography is an essential read for academics, geographers, and scholars seeking unique perspective on an important facet of the field.

THEORY AND EXPLANATION IN GEOGRAPHY"With this book Henry Yeung puts Geography back into the driver's seat of new theory development. Foregrounding mid-range theories and mechanism-based explanations, he offers a pragmatic approach that has the capacity to shape the wider social sciences for years to come. The timing of this intervention is pitch-perfect, as scholars search for ways to understand and intervene in an increasingly distrustful and polarized world."—KATHARYNE MITCHELL, Distinguished Professor, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA"In Theory and Explanation in Geography Yeung presents us with a rare thing - an argument for geographical theory with forms of causal explanation at its heart. The book is both modest and ambitious. Modest in its insistence on mid-level theory without a call for some new “turn” or advocacy for any particular approach. Ambitious in its insistence that existing theoretical traditions are inadequate or incomplete insofar as they lack causal explanatory power. Geographers will be inspired and/or infuriated by Yeung’s arguments in this provocative and cogently argued call to theoretical arms for many years to come."—Tim Cresswell, Ogilvie Professor of Geography, University of Edinburgh, UK"Critical human geography possesses a distinctive theory culture—pluralist, creative, distributed, restless, contested—prone to “turning,” wary of orthodoxies and fixed positions. In this original and provocative contribution, the leading economic geographer Henry Yeung steps out beyond his home turf to engage styles and practices of theorizing across this diverse field, carving out a new remit and rubric for middle-range theorizing."—JAMIE PECK, Canadian Research Chair and Distinguished University Scholar, University of British Columbia, CanadaGrounded in a generous reading of a multitude of critical approaches in human geography and their diverse conceptions of theory, Theory and Explanation in Geography draws upon cutting-edge debates on the mechanism-based approach to theory and explanation in analytical sociology, political science, and the philosophy of social sciences to inform current and future geographical thinking on theory. This consolidated conceptual work represents an extension and much further development of the author's well-cited works on relational geography, critical realism and causal explanation, process-based methodology, globalization and the theory of global production networks, and "theorizing back" and situated knowledges that were published in leading journals in Geography.The work has several chapters that identify new directions for Geography’s current and future engagement with the wider social sciences and relevant research agendas in geographical thought. Its main chapters provide the necessary conceptual toolkits for mobilizing such an expanding research program in the 2020s and beyond. Compared to typical texts on geographical thought, this book is less retrospective and historical and more prospective in nature. Detailing why and how mid-range explanatory theories can be better developed through causal mechanisms and relational thinking that have been revitalized in the social sciences, Theory and Explanation in Geography is an essential read for academics, geographers, and scholars seeking unique perspective on an important facet of the field.

In Strategic Coupling, Henry Wai-chung Yeung examines economic development and state-firm relations in East Asia, focusing in particular on South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. As a result of the massive changes of the last twenty-five years, new explanations must be found for the economic success and industrial transformation in the region. State-assisted startups and incubator firms in East Asia have become major players in the manufacture of products with a global reach: Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision has assembled more than 500 million iPhones, for instance, and South Korea's Samsung provides the iPhone's semiconductor chips and retina displays.Drawing on extensive interviews with top executives and senior government officials, Yeung argues that since the late 1980s, many East Asian firms have outgrown their home states, and are no longer dependent on state support; as a result the developmental state has lost much of its capacity to steer and direct industrialization. We cannot read the performance of national firms as a direct outcome of state action. Yeung calls for a thorough renovation of the still-dominant view that states are the primary engine of industrial transformation. He stresses action by national firms and traces various global production networks to incorporate both firm-specific activities and the international political economy. He identifies two sets of dynamics in these national-global articulations known as strategic coupling: coevolution in the confluence of state, firm, and global production networks, and the various strategies pursued by East Asian firms to attain competitive positions in the global marketplace.

In Strategic Coupling, Henry Wai-chung Yeung examines economic development and state-firm relations in East Asia, focusing in particular on South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. As a result of the massive changes of the last twenty-five years, new explanations must be found for the economic success and industrial transformation in the region. State-assisted startups and incubator firms in East Asia have become major players in the manufacture of products with a global reach: Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision has assembled more than 500 million iPhones, for instance, and South Korea's Samsung provides the iPhone's semiconductor chips and retina displays.Drawing on extensive interviews with top executives and senior government officials, Yeung argues that since the late 1980s, many East Asian firms have outgrown their home states, and are no longer dependent on state support; as a result the developmental state has lost much of its capacity to steer and direct industrialization. We cannot read the performance of national firms as a direct outcome of state action. Yeung calls for a thorough renovation of the still-dominant view that states are the primary engine of industrial transformation. He stresses action by national firms and traces various global production networks to incorporate both firm-specific activities and the international political economy. He identifies two sets of dynamics in these national-global articulations known as strategic coupling: coevolution in the confluence of state, firm, and global production networks, and the various strategies pursued by East Asian firms to attain competitive positions in the global marketplace.

The global electronics industry is one of the most innovation-driven and technology-intensive sectors in the contemporary world economy. From semiconductors to end products, complex transnational production and value-generating activities have integrated diverse macro-regions and national economies worldwide into the "interconnected worlds" of global electronics. This book argues that the current era of interconnected worlds started in the early 1990s when electronics production moved from systems dominated by lead firms in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan towards increasingly globalized and cross-macro-regional electronics manufacturing centered in East Asia. By the 2010s, this co-evolution of production network complexity transformed global electronics, through which lead firms from South Korea, Taiwan, and China integrated East Asia into the interconnected worlds of electronics production across the globe. Drawing on literature on the electronics industry, new empirical material comprising custom datasets, and extensive personal interviews, this book examines through a "network" approach the co-evolution of globalized electronics production centered in East Asia across different national economies and sub-national regions. With comprehensive analysis up to 2021, Yeung analyzes the geographical configurations ("where"), organizational strategies ("how"), and causal drivers ("why") of global production networks, setting a definitive benchmark into the dynamic transformations in global electronics and other globalized industries. The book will serve as a crucial resource for academic and policy research, offering a conceptual, empirically driven grounding in the theory of these networks that has become highly influential across the social sciences.

The global electronics industry is one of the most innovation-driven and technology-intensive sectors in the contemporary world economy. From semiconductors to end products, complex transnational production and value-generating activities have integrated diverse macro-regions and national economies worldwide into the "interconnected worlds" of global electronics. This book argues that the current era of interconnected worlds started in the early 1990s when electronics production moved from systems dominated by lead firms in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan towards increasingly globalized and cross-macro-regional electronics manufacturing centered in East Asia. By the 2010s, this co-evolution of production network complexity transformed global electronics, through which lead firms from South Korea, Taiwan, and China integrated East Asia into the interconnected worlds of electronics production across the globe. Drawing on literature on the electronics industry, new empirical material comprising custom datasets, and extensive personal interviews, this book examines through a "network" approach the co-evolution of globalized electronics production centered in East Asia across different national economies and sub-national regions. With comprehensive analysis up to 2021, Yeung analyzes the geographical configurations ("where"), organizational strategies ("how"), and causal drivers ("why") of global production networks, setting a definitive benchmark into the dynamic transformations in global electronics and other globalized industries. The book will serve as a crucial resource for academic and policy research, offering a conceptual, empirically driven grounding in the theory of these networks that has become highly influential across the social sciences.

Entrepreneurs engaging in international business face business environments that are fundamentally different from their home countries. Despite decades of entrepreneurship research, we know little about these entrepreneurs and their strategic behaviour in establishing and managing transnational operations.This book applies an institutional perspective on transnational entrepreneurship to empirical investigations of transnational corporations (TNCs) from Hong Kong and Singapore. Henry Wai-chung Yeung argues that significant variations in institutional structures of home countries explain variations in the entrepreneurial endowments of prospective transnational business networks. This is illustrated by empirical data from two in-depth studies of over 300 TNCs from Hong Kong and Singapore and over 120 of their foreign affiliates in Asia.Entrepreneurship and the Internationalisation of Asian Firms is a timely contribution to theoretical and empirical studies in international business and will be widely read by those interested in international business, industrial economics, organisation studies, political economy, regional studies and economic geography.

The rise of Asia as an important region for global business has been widely recognized as one of the most significant economic phenomena in the new millennium. This accessible and comprehensive Handbook brings together state-of-the-art reviews of Asian business in an expansive range of areas including: business organizationsstrategic managementmarketingstate-business relationsbusiness and developmentbusiness policy issues. It is argued that whilst academic studies on Asian business have been in existence for over two decades, there is relatively little systematic integration of our knowledge and research on Asian business. The contributors, drawn from a variety of disciplines within the social sciences, aim to redress the balance with their lively, cutting-edge discussion.Serving as a timely overview of more than two decades of scholarly research, this Handbook will be an essential resource for academics, students and researchers interested in Asian business.