There have been major changes taking place in export horticulture over time that have been compounded by the recent economic crisis. Women and men have been affected differently by these changes. Women have played a major role as waged and unwaged labour but have also been significantly affected by these shifts. Although we know about the effects of the supermarket-led global production network (GPN) expansion on gender relations existing literature does not explore theoretically and empirically the gender implications of changing production networks. The thesis addresses this research gap by investigating the shifting role of women in the table (fresh) grape GPN from the town of Archanes in Crete, Greece to the European market and the implications for women’s labour agency across three periods. Thus, it addresses the research question: How has the relationship between women’s waged and unwaged work in the table grape GPN shifted across periods and what are the implications for gender and GPN analysis? It investigates changes across: 1) the period of the producer-led export market; 2) the period of the buyer-led GPN expansion; and 3) the period of crisis. A qualitative case study approach is used, utilising primarily interviews, focus groups and participant observation. This research builds on the GPN, feminist political economy and intra-household bargaining literatures to further develop a Gendered Global Production Networks (Gendered GPN) approach. An evolving Gendered GPN approach combines the GPN approach with a concept of gendered societal embeddedness which captures the interaction between commercial drivers and gendered societal relations. The thesis draws from the intra-household bargaining literature to incorporate a household level analysis of labour bargaining and fall-back positions to ‘unpack’ the concept of women’s labour agency. The thesis finds that while in the period of the producer-led export market women were unskilled labour, the expansion of supermarkets in period 2 offered skills and economic opportunities, enabling them to bargain in crisis even as unwaged labour in table grapes. Hence labour agency becomes more important in shaping women’s position in production networks than in the producer-led export market. Ultimately the GPN was still able to get high quality at low costs through female labour. Therefore commercial pressures influence gendered societal relations but also gendered societal relations influence commercial transitions. The findings show complex and non-linear forms of change characterised by tensions between commercial and gendered societal relations in a process of transition underpinned by shifts in women’s work and agency. I capture this with the concept of ‘gendered societal transitions’. This helps to further develop a Gendered GPN approach to advance knowledge of non-linear gendered transformations as GPNs evolve.

While it cannot be questioned that we live in an era of unprecedented, often conflicting and turbulent changes, which, alongside their outcomes, are commonly referred to as “globalisation”, some processes of economic globalisation still remain largely under-researched both in sectoral and geographical terms. Conducted from the perspective of economic geography, this thesis addresses two significant research lacunae in economic geography – one sectoral (the hotel industry) and one geographical (Central and Eastern Europe). The paucity of research on services in general and tourism and the hotel sector in particular (the sectoral gap) is especially pronounced with regard to the CEE region (the geographical gap). Meanwhile, the globalisation of the service sector which, further to the collapse of the communist system in 1989, has also embraced CEE is seen to have a growing impact on the (re)integration of the CEE countries into the global economy. Concurrently, the importance of the CEE market in the globalisation of services is also constantly increasing. Thus, as the first systematic study of the international hotel sector in the CEE region, the thesis makes an important contribution to the understanding of the globalisation of the hotel industry (and the globalisation of the service sector) both in theoretical and empirical terms. The thesis focuses on the spatial expansion of international hotel groups into Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) after 1989 and its main objective is to describe and explain the interactions between different forms of corporate development of international hotel groups and the processes of regional growth in different institutional contexts in CEE. The thesis is mainly qualitative. It is based on two intersecting comparative case studies – one organisational (all hotel groups from the world’s Top 50 that are present in CEE, i.e. 23 groups) and one territorial (three CEE countries – Poland, Estonia and Bulgaria). Grounded in the global production networks (GPN) perspective (Henderson et al 2002), the thesis investigates what can be called two “dimensions” of globalisation of the hotel industry (Coe and Ward 2007). Thus, apart from exploring the geographical expansion of international hotel groups into CEE (the horizontal dimension) the thesis also focuses upon the embeddedness of hotel groups in the variety of socio-political and institutional contexts currently emerging in CEE in place of state socialism (the vertical dimension). With regard to the horizontal dimension, the thesis argues that the spatial distribution of international hotels in CEE is shaped by two sets of factors – hotel groups’ strategies of expansion and the varying opportunities for the hotel sector development that different markets in CEE can offer. With regard to the vertical dimension, in turn, it is contended that the degree to which each economic, political or social characteristic of a given post-communist context influences the expansion of hotel groups hinges upon the business model preferred by the hotel group. By the same token, the degree to which the group can foster regional growth in a given territory hinges upon the level of embeddedness of the group in that territory which, in turn, is reflective of the business model employed by the hotel group with regard to a given hotel.

Manufacturing activities in the personal computer industry are organised in a complex global production network (GPN) led by a variety of branded global lead firms. Increasingly, considerations on environmental, health and safety governance have emerged as an important element to the management and co-ordination of these production networks by lead firms. Within the personal computer GPN, the printed circuit board (PCB) industry is commonly subcontracted by branded firms to suppliers located in developing countries such as Penang, Malaysia. The activities of PCB manufacturing and assembly involve the use of various hazardous chemicals that pose environmental health risks to workers. This research aims to understand how governance over environmental health is implemented in the GPN led by Hewlett Packard (HP) and in particular with lower tier suppliers in the printed circuit board industry in Penang, Malaysia. The main research question is: how are environmental health concerns managed by governance mechanisms in GPNs that involve the relocation of harmful manufacturing activities to developing countries? Governance mechanisms within the GPN include private standards and codes of conduct, which are supplemented by government regulation in the host country. Governance outcomes are shaped by relations between firms and non-firm actors such as government agencies, civil society organisations and trade unions. Therefore, a GPN analytical framework is utilised to understand more specifically how a variety of firm and non-firm actors and their relationships and power dynamics influence governance practices in the industry. Fieldwork for the research was conducted in 2008 and 2010 and consisted of semi-structured in-person and telephone interviews with thirty seven key actors in Malaysia, Western Europe, and the United States. Key informants included HP; first tier suppliers to HP and second tier suppliers located in Penang, Malaysia; global and Malaysian civil society organisations; an international federation of trade unions and Malaysian trade unions; Malaysian government agencies; and a politician, occupational health doctor and journalist in Penang. The findings from this research show that a combination of factors results in a weak scenario for governing environmental health risks of suppliers in Penang. These factors are resource constraints among suppliers; weak host country capacity and willingness to regulate; weak knowledge of environmental health risks by firms and regulatory agencies; and weak contestation by external stakeholders. Findings from the analysis also show the need to have differentiated views of power amongst different actor relationships in order to understand the complexity of GPN governance.

This thesis aims to understand the role of public governance (national laws and regulations) in addressing poor working conditions on South African fruit farms connected to global production networks (GPN), at the intersection of global private (codes of conduct) and local civil society organisation (CSO) initiatives. A particular objective of the investigation is to understand the extent to which public governance is able to address working conditions on South African fruit export farms, taking into account wider global commercial pressures inherent in fruit GPNs. Much analysis of global private and governance by local CSOs has not sufficiently addressed the role of public governance. Research focusing on public governance in addressing working conditions in South African fruit has not sufficiently accounted for the multi-scalar interactions between lead firm supermarkets, national suppliers and local fruit producers. These interactions are positioned to shape and influence regulatory outcomes for different groups of permanent and casual farmworkers. The thesis seeks to address the following central research question: ‘To what extent do multi-scalar tensions in global production networks (GPNs) challenge the public governance of working conditions, and what are the lessons from labour operating in South African fruit production?’This research draws upon the GPN analytical framework and public governance research, in order to conceptualise the multi-scalar commercial and governance processes that play out in the South African fruit export sector. In doing so, this research seeks to contribute to existing GPN and public governance literatures. Previous GPN research has not sufficiently investigated the role of public governance (laws and regulations) in addressing working conditions, partly due to an assumption that neoliberal policies have eroded the ability of developing states to regulate labour incorporated into global production. This problematic is beginning to be addressed, due to increasing academic acknowledgement of the central regulatory role nation states continue to play in addressing working conditions in global production, at the intersection of global private (codes of conduct) initiatives and governance by local CSOs (NGO and trade union activity). Additionally, this thesis seeks to bring together two separate strands of ‘governance’ research in global production networks, which have thus far been investigated separately; the governance of commercial interactions on the one hand, and the governance of labour on the other. A key theoretical argument is that understanding challenges facing the public governance of labour requires a broader conceptualisation of the governance of multi-scalar commercial interactions in global production, which shape and influence workforce composition at local farm level. This thesis argues that an inherent multi-scalar tension exists on the one hand between ‘global commercial pressures’ exerted by global lead firms over national suppliers and local producers driving workforce casualisation, and on the other hand a ‘global governance deficit’ at the core of which lies a public governance deficit facing increasing numbers of casual workers, characterised by minimum wages insufficient to meet living costs and a lack of trade union representation. This tension, it is argued, underpinned the crisis in South African fruit in 2012/13, when casual workers mobilised to demand an increase in the agricultural minimum wage, and threatened the fruit value chain by blocking the main arterial routes to Cape Town port. The policy implications of this thesis are that nation states are required to adopt multi-scalar interventions which transcend traditional forms of governance, in order to address the global commercial pressures inherent in GPNs and protect increasing numbers of casual workers in this context.

Production Networks of Automobile Industry as a Factor of Regional Development in Czechia Abstract Thesis "Production Networks of automotive industry as a factor of regional development in Czechia" deals with linking economic globalization, global production networks and regional development. The main purpose is to analyze the relationship between regional development and the Czech automotive industry, depending on the position of automotive firms in global production networks. The work focuses on three areas: quantitative analysis of the automobile supplier sector, the spatial heterogenity of firms located in different positions in global production networks and formulating typology of regional development potential. The methodology employs 37 indicators for inter-regional comparisons. Based on comparative analysis, I identified a typology of regions according to their regional develompent potential. Keywords: automotive industry, global production networks, regional development

Large parts of Earth’s natural ecosystems have been converted into simplified production system. These production systems, named the Global Production Ecosystems (GPE) are characterised by homogenised and industrial production, that delivers predictable yields of biomass and is highly connected through global trade. The anthropogenic inputs required to keep this predictability is likely to cause environmental degradation and could cause novel risks in the long term. The rise of flex crops is a phenomenon that is likely to further promote this homogenisation and industrialisation. These are crops with multiple and flexible uses that are increasingly targeted by agribusinesses to feed the demands of food, feed, fuel and other industrial products. This study examines global flex crops production ecosystem through the lens of resilience thinking, by analysing production data over time, including the social and environmental impacts of inputs, and assess the national concentration of production. I find that flex crops have expanded and intensified more so than similar crops. Since 1961 flex crops harvested area have increased in more than 150% in size, while similar crops have increased 10%. At the same time yields for flex crops have almost tripled, while similar crops have doubled their yield. I also find that in some aspects flex crops are heavily reliant on anthropogenic inputs. On a global scale the use of inputs is generally concentrated to a small number of countries, but that the average use of inputs varies greatly between countries. These findings indicate that the development of flex crops is an important to research to understand the GPE and that using resilience thinking is key to understand this phenomenon.

Yes / Incorporating the global production network approach and competitor analysis, this paper establishes an analytical framework with two hypotheses for the role of foreign multinational enterprises (FMNEs) in indigenous firms’ exports and domestic sales. First, the presence of FMNEs as a whole is likely to have a negative impact on indigenous firms’ domestic sales but a simultaneous positive impact on their exports in an emerging economy like China. Second, the presence of MNEs from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan (HMT MNEs) is more likely to generate this pattern of impact than MNEs from other countries (Other FMNEs). The FDI-led export strategy contributed to the dominance of the scenario described by the first hypothesis in China, while a higher degree of market commonality and resource similarity of HMT MNEs with that of indigenous Chinese firms than Other FMNEs leads to the second hypothesis. These novel hypotheses are tested and supported by a very large and recent firm-level panel dataset from Chinese manufacturing.

The thesis deals with the analysis of Nachod and Tachov regions' economic structure. The aim of this work is to discover the range and character of differences between these regional economic structures within a national innovation system. Regions showing approximately similar vertical geographic position were chosen for the analysis deliberately, however they differ in various actualities, such as, for instance, their position in terms of west-east gradient, or more precisely horizontal geographic position. Based on the analysis of the relationship between the suppliers and consumers, manufacturing programmes, and not least ownership structures, the basic typology of the economic subjects from the manufacturing industry was executed. The results of this analysis point out significant dependence of the Tachov region on the activities of foreign investors and underdeveloped entrepreneurial environment. Nachod region reports, in the interregional comparison, better results in assessing the economic structure and features clearly more endogenous regional development than Tachov region. Key words: global production network, regional innovation system, manufacturing industry, economic structure

No description available.

Powering Kenya's agricultural economy, the Kenyan flower industry is prided as an example of successful African integration into global agricultural trade. Export markets are bifurcated due to a marked shift from the Dutch flower auctions and an increase in trade within 'direct markets' which includes supermarkets and florists. While flower production is dominated by a few vertically integrated, large scale flower farms (>100 ha), mid-scale (20-80 hectares) and small-scale (>0.25 hectares) flower farms which are the focus of the thesis, face a unique set of challenges in terms of navigating access to the more stable direct markets. The overall narrative is that even in a buyer-driven market, Kenyan cut flower producers at the mid and small scale have agency, and they exercise their bargaining power for favourable export access by diversification and differentiation in strategies and networks. Two meta-narratives framing the sector coalesce around the development angle which showcases contestations around labour and environmental abuses and the political economy angle focusing on governance structures and power relations of production. This thesis goes deeper than these meta narratives by introducing micro-level, relational perspectives using the GPN framework, and asks what strategies Kenyan mid and small scale cut flower producers employ to navigate the shifts in export markets as producers diversify from the Dutch auctions towards supermarkets. My findings identify diversification as the common factor in mid and small scale producers' strategies for securing a range of lucrative export markets. Producers' enhance their bargaining power to access diverse markets through adaptable production, relationally through collective action, and in the regulatory sphere by circumvention, compliance or contestation for more favourable 'rules of the game'. Going beyond labour and environmental analyses, the thesis uniquely analyses the knowledge economy originating from the cut flower sector as an undertheorized aspect of its development impact.