The Global Production Networks (GPNs) framework has shown how interactions among various types of firm and non-firm actors at different geographic scales are often crucial to improve the design and implementation of social and environmental standards. However, one set of actors that the GPN framework has largely overlooked are business associations. Sectoral expertise, access to member firms and the ability to represent firms towards external standard-setters make local business associations interesting as regulatory intermediaries between member firms and local and global standard setters. Nonetheless, the ways in which such intermediary roles may operate, and how they may build on local collective action within business associations, remain conceptually and empirically understudied. In seeking to contribute to this gap, this thesis addresses the question: What roles do business associations play in the governance of sustainability standards within GPNs? To address this question, the thesis explores the value-added of an analytical approach that integrates concepts from the literature on associational governance and regulatory governance into the GPN framework. It focuses on collective self-regulation and intermediation as two distinct but potentially complementary roles that business associations can take on in the governance of sustainability standards. In the GPN context, intermediary roles can play out towards local and global standard-setters. This analytical framework is applied to a case study of the CSC9000T standard created by the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC). Empirical data was collected over a 10 months period between December 2014 - September 2015. It includes secondary documents and 58 semi-structured primary interviews with Chinese business associations and firms as well as international actors involved in CSR in China. A congruence analysis is used to examine the extent to which each of the two conceptual roles of self-regulation and intermediation can explain CNTAC's roles in CSC9000T. Findings show that both roles add value to explaining the case study. However, limitations faced in both roles reflect how the association's embeddedness in the overall GPN influences these roles. Overall, the thesis argues that a conceptual lens that views business associations both as collective actors and as regulatory intermediaries may add value to understanding their ability to govern sustainability standards, but needs to be seen in the context of an association's embeddedness in the wider GPN. These findings have implications for considering when, and how, local business associations may be relevant in wider research on sustainability standards in global production.

The objective of this thesis is to make a contribution to the existing knowledge and understanding of the structure, nature and determinants of East Asia’s automobile production networks. To understand the structure of East Asia’s automobile production, we explored the trade networks in terms of the major roles played by each East Asian country, their main trading partners, and the network patterns for the years 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010. After understanding the structure of East Asia’s production networks, we then explored the nature of such networks by means of some related indices. Consequently, through the use of gravity equations, we were able to investigate the determinants of the automobile trade level for East Asian countries given their position in the international production networks. The findings of this thesis indicate that East Asia’s automobile networks are expanding over time and there exists a trend toward exporting parts and components for domestic assembly in view of the local market. In terms of the production network, the role of some countries such as Malaysia and Singapore remains unchanged, while the role of other countries such as China, Indonesia and the Philippines had expanded from importers to exporters of auto parts and components. Meanwhile, the role of Thailand has changed dramatically during the same period, i.e. from an importer of auto parts, components and final automobiles in the 1990s to an exporter of auto parts, components and final automobiles in the decade that followed. The findings also suggested that the main actor, i.e. Japan, played a major role in the transformation of the auto industry in East Asia during this period, with it now importing auto parts and components from its East Asian partners and also exporting auto parts and components to Thailand which then exports them as final goods. In addition, IPNs structure and nature, government policies as well as the role played by Japanese MNCs are the important determinants that boosted the development of East Asia’s auto industry.

Labor geographers have identified multiple strategies through which workers assert their demands in an era of global production networks. In this thesis I examine the strategic organizational actions of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a community-based organization representing immigrant farm-workers in southwestern Florida. Central to the successes of the CIW is its strategy to organize and embed its agency in civil society. Social actors have proved to be of vital importance as they enabled the CIW to position itself strategically in important locations of the production network to contest capitalist geographies more effectively. Using qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with representatives of churches, religious-community organizations, and interfaith non-profits working with the CIW, I argue that the CIW‘s strategies theoretically expands our understanding of labor agency and how spatiality, and specifically place, shapes the potential for workers‘ agency.

Achieving sustainable production is a critical task in today’s globalised world. This is especially the case in the cotton garment industry where globally dispersed suppliers feed rapidly expanding demand across international markets. Practices associated with cotton garment production face numerous sustainability challenges from cotton farming to textile and garment manufacturing. Retailers are under increasing pressure to address these challenges and leading retailers are now actively trying to promote more sustainable production across all stages of production from raw material to final product. While numerous studies have investigated the relationship between retailers and their upper tier suppliers, there is little understanding of how sustainability challenges can be addressed across fragmented production processes. It is this gap that this thesis seeks to fill. Promoting sustainable production from raw materials to the final stages of manufacturing involves influencing practices of a diverse set of businesses responsible for different stages of production. This thesis defines the set of businesses that turn raw materials into final products as an ‘extended supplier network’ (ESN). Drawing on global value chain (GVC) and global production network (GPN) approaches to understanding how production is organised, the core question of this thesis is: To what extent is buyerdriven governance sufficient for promoting sustainable production across fragmented production processes in an ESN? GVC and GPN research provides insight into this issue as it offers a way to conceptualise how lead firms influence their suppliers. The GVC approach highlights the importance of lead buyers. The GPN approach incorporates this argument but further emphasises the importance of spatiality and the roles of a wider set of actors and processes. While both approaches theoretically incorporate all stages of production, garment industry studies using these approaches have tended to focus on relationships between brands and retailers and upper tier suppliers, paying insufficient attention to lower tiers. Considering the case of Indian cotton clothing production for major UK retailers, this study explores retailers’ governance relationships with producers at different points in their ESNs. Producers’ experiences of vertical governance through buyer-seller relationships across all stages of production within an ESN are explored. These producers’ experiences with horizontal governance within distinct local productive systems are also considered. Diverse producers’ locations within the ESN and within local productive systems are found to involve different governance experiences within the same ESN. Across the ESN, vertical governance flows are found to be limited by variation in potential for buyer governance across buyer-seller relationships in the multiple vertical pathways connecting retailers to raw material producers. Alternatively, retailers can connect to producers by making non-sourcing horizontal connections with actors in local productive systems. While dominant methods in retailers’ efforts at governance for sustainability have been vertical, horizontal connections are increasing across the industry. However, despite the emergence of new connections, this research finds that retailers’ influence over lower tier production processes remains limited. Empirically, this thesis provides insight into the complexity of sustainability challenges involved in the production of cotton garments. Conceptually, it shows the nature of diverse governance relationships across an ESN. It also emphasises that effective governance for sustainability cannot be achieved simply through vertical buyerdriven governance. Instead a more nuanced, and more complex, understanding of the interplay between vertical and horizontal is required, particularly considering the role of alliances. This has significant implications for policy, including the public and private governance for sustainability in the global cotton garment industry.

Yes / Many hundreds of Bronze Age bronze artefacts are known from excavations in Switzerland, yet the interpretation of production networks from the object find locations remain problematic. It is proposed that the decorative elements used on items, such as ring-jewellery, can be used as elements to assist in the identification of artisanal traditions and ‘schools’, and also regional or community preference and selection of specific designs. Combining the analysis of over 1700 items of ring-jewellery from Switzerland with approaches from network science has facilitated the identification of regional clustering of design elements, comparable with cultural typologies in the area. It is also possible to identify potential instances of cultural differentiation through decoration within the broader regional cultural traditions. The study highlights important facets of bronzework production in the region of Switzerland, while also demonstrating future potential directions which could build upon the European wide dataset of prehistoric bronzework. / Primary research conducted under previous funding at University of Basel, Switzerland – SNF grant

The aim of this research is to examine the extent to which the offshoring and outsourcing practices in Multinational Corporations, when the headquarters are registered and located in either the UK or Germany; are embedded in the institutional contexts of their respective home countries. There are six research questions relating to differences in approach and choice of location, ownership and coordination, employment practice, cultural proximity, trade union influence and finally the extent of re-shoring. These are primarily assessed through the 'varieties of capitalism' perspective. A comparative case study approach has been adopted with a focus on two sectors; airlines and engineering; in each case a major UK and German organisation are compared. Fourteen in-depth, semi-structured interviews took place in both the home countries and overseas locations in Europe, India and Asia. The sample size is small, however, each was with a senior executive and the transcripts revealed 'rich data' for compiling the case studies and answering the research questions. The contribution to original thinking is a conceptual framework posited by proposing a taxonomy to analyse the relationship between coordinated and liberal market economies and the components of the offshoring and / or outsourcing process. Reference is made to theory drawn from the resource based view, global production networks, dynamic capabilities, embeddedness as well as varieties of capitalism to focus on competences, spatial dimensions and power. It is this collective approach that is considered to be novel. Qualitative analysis is deployed to re-construct the actual framework for each industry sector. Constructs (Reichertz, 2004) combining abduction, deduction and induction are used to develop propositions that lead to conclusions. The similarities between the two UK companies and the two German companies confirms the usefulness of the taxonomy and allows for its extension to other firms and sectors. Key findings and conclusions from the two case studies are that German organizations are less inclined to outsource (in both sectors) preferring to reduce costs and retain control through captive offshoring. The UK businesses were less risk adverse and more flexible and agile in their sourcing policies. There was evidence that the UK companies regarded outsourcing and offshoring as options for closer co-operation that may lead to strategic alliances and mergers or acquisition. The relationships with trade unions/works council was also found to be very different, with a reluctance by management in Germany to progress radical initiatives. Other differences in terms of autonomy and division of labour were found. From an institutional perspective the German CME's cases were less able to deploy outsourcing and offshoring strategies with the degrees of freedom that the UK LMEs typically enjoyed. CMEs are constrained by their policies, interconnectedness and style of working. A number of ambiguities are highlighted. The thesis argues that the outsourcing and offshoring practices are embedded to a high degree in the institutional practices of the home countries. Finally, the empirical novelty lies in the 'rich data' generated by valuable insights from the senior executive interviewees to which the researcher was privileged to have access.

Workers in labour-intensive industries in developing countries have been described as the ‘hidden hands’ in the making of valuable goods in global production networks (GPNs). The process of improving the rights and entitlements of workers in GPNs have been referred to as ’social upgrading’. However, literature on social upgrading has tended to overlook the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and there is still little scientific understanding of how small businesses in developing countries can engage in social upgrading. The aim of this thesis is to enhance the understanding of how SMEs in developing countries can improve working conditions and labour rights. Through a qualitative case study, this study goes beyond statements of leading Fair Trade brands to provide insights based on voices of both workers and owner-managers in a small garment factory in Nepal. This study brings forward observations where SMEs, shaped by their characteristics, are enabled to evade responsibilities concerning working conditions and labour rights.

Given growing concerns regarding the chocolate sector's long-term future, ever more private-sector, public-sector and civil-society stakeholders have become involved in initiatives aiming to make cocoa production more 'sustainable'. However, despite the omnipresent term, stakeholders' understandings of associated environmental, commercial and socio-economic priorities diverge: while transforming cocoa into a more attractive livelihood for farmers is paramount for some, others prioritise links to global environmental challenges. A third dimension encompasses commercial concerns related to securing supply, an increasing qualm given projected cocoa shortages and ever-rising concentration in the marketplace. This research argues there are considerable tensions between different stakeholders' commercial, socio-economic and environmental priorities in cocoa sustainability initiatives especially in light of the sector's intensifying challenges. Further tensions emerge between underlying drivers and representations, as public-facing communication continues to emphasise altruism rather than commercial necessity, locating engagements in 'nice-to-have' rather than 'business imperative' territory. Based on documentary analysis, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation, this thesis aims to capture how cocoa-sector changes have driven shifts in stakeholder priorities and representations, incorporating voices from across the initiatives ranging from cocoa producers to chocolate consumers. Utilising a modified global production networks lens to represent the full spectrum of stakeholders involved, the research maps three cocoa sustainability initiatives incorporating conservation or carbon measures in terms of power and embeddedness, stakeholder drivers and representations. While identifying tensions, it also argues that acknowledging divergent understandings of the polysemic 'sustainability' concept constitutes an opportunity for a much-needed redressing of power and embeddedness asymmetries to address systemic issues threatening the sector's future. However, the thesis also observes that despite protestations of partnership, few actors are willing to contemplate the systemic changes in favour of more equitable treatment and power distribution which would be required to safeguard the sector's long-term viability. This thesis's contributions include its unprecedented critical exploration of the diverging socio-economic, commercial and environmental drivers which diverse stakeholders associate with cocoa sustainability, the meanings they create towards the public, and the link to underlying power and embeddedness structures. These analytical foci have proved instrumental in unpacking emerging tensions, which are likely to grow more marked as cocoa shortages become more acute and understandings of sustainability continue to diverge.

Stringent Northern private food standards have created onerous requirements for horticulture farmers in Kenya who wish to supply global value chains (GVC) and production networks (GPNs) governed by global lead firms. Simultaneously, Southern (regional) supermarkets have emerged over the last few decades leading to the formation of regional production networks (RPNs), which provide a new market opportunity and require meeting different regional private and public standards. Both Northern and regional standards are increasingly including complex environmental requirements that risk farmer exclusion from participation in both global and regional markets. This is exacerbated by bio-physical aspects of climate variability and extremes that impinge on crop quality and yield. A key problem therefore arises from the ability of farmers across not only GPNs but also RPNs and local production networks (LPNs) to cope with different environmental upgrading and downgrading pressures, emerging from standards and bio-physical aspects. The overarching research question this thesis seeks to address is: What are the dynamics of environmental upgrading, embeddedness and governance for farmers in global, regional and local production networks? This thesis seeks to make three contributions to the GPN and GVC literatures. The first is integrating the natural environment through a concept I call re-environmentalization. I suggest farmers dis-embed from previous relationships and interactions with their environment/land and re-embed into new socio-ecological relationships in GPNs, RPNs or LPNs. The second contribution enriches production network and value chain analysis by adding a dimension of €changing epistemologies€™ wherein I explicate understandings of governance through the lens of a farmer. I view governance as something that 'is experienced'€™ rather than focus on the lead firms'€™ perspective of '€˜governing'€™. I question the linearity of upgrading, studying what it means to a farmer, instead of assuming that all upgrades are beneficial. The third contribution is to compare how re-environmentalization and governance, effect a farmers' ability to environmentally upgrade heterogeneously across global, regional and local production networks, thereby going beyond the North-South analysis prevalent in GPN literature. The thesis is based on field research in Kenya involving 102 key informant interviews, 6 focus group discussions and a survey of 579 farmers across four counties (Murang'a, Machakos, Nyandarua, Meru) producing snow peas, garden peas, avocados and mangoes. The analysis uses a mixed method approach, drawing on econometric models along with qualitative data to provide triangulated and robust comparisons across production networks. The empirical findings of the research indicate that the trajectories of environmental upgrading/ downgrading are complex and dynamic across farmers in GPNs, RPNs and LPNs. This is because the process through which farmers re-environmentalize into GPNs is contested, as relationships with Northern firms'€™ breed dis-trust and inhibit the use of tacit knowledge. This prevents farmers from performing environmental upgrading in a sustainable way. Furthermore, I debunk the implicit assumption that economically upgrading, by adhering to Northern and regional standards is sustainable, and instead show that these standards can trigger environmental downgrading. RPN farmers, because of their entrepreneurial capacity and smoother process of re-environmentalizing into regional networks, compared to farmers in GPNs, are able to internalize knowledge and environmentally upgrade more sustainably. Finally, LPN farmers perform the least environmental upgrades, due to minimal support from other network actors. Overall, I establish that it is critical to incorporate environmental dimensions in production network and value chain analysis.

This PhD dissertation studies how market structures and economic incentives transform heterogeneity at agent levels into unequal economic outcomes. The first chapter studies the economic incentives that lead a country to specialise its production in specific segments of a supply chain, and how these incentives transform heterogeneity at the productivity level into wage differences between countries. This chapter presents an innovative framework that incorporates production networks to the Ricardian trade model. It describes the price formation mechanism that occurs along supply chains and how it induces countries to focus on the production of specific goods. Moreover, the model highlights the role of the network structure in the determination of prices, and uses it to explain how changes in the productivity of a country have consequences in the production decisions and wages of the other countries that produce goods in the supply chain. The second chapter studies the effects that the heterogeneity of income flows has over the implementation of collective agreements. Collective agreements are the primary mechanism by which communities cope with market failures. However, the lack of enforcement mechanisms generates coordination challenges. This chapter presents a theoretical framework that studies how inequality among individuals affects the participation incentives of the individuals and explains why agreements that balance the rent-seeking behaviour of wealthy individuals with the redistribution interests of the poor reduce the adverse effects of heterogeneity, and can even use it to create more robust agreements. The third chapter studies heterogeneity at the level of academic journals. This chapter models the interaction between authors and journals as a platform market and uses this model to explain how general interest journals compete against field-specific journals. The model provides new insights into the way in which general interest journals link the different publication incentives of journals across fields. The theoretical results explain why general interest journals tend to attract higher quality publications and how changes in the publication capacity of a journal, or the volume of research in a field, can affect the quality of ideas published in both field-specific and general interest journals. Finally, this chapter applies the previous theoretical results to understand how the Top 5 journals in economics obtained their central role, and how their influence has changed between 1980 and the present.