The aim of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework explaining the different options of corporate competency division and their regional effects in terms of peripheral acquisition of competencies. The framework is empirically based on an analysis of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles...

In the last decades many industrialised countries have experienced an international fragmentation of the production chain. Since the second half of the nineties the Italian firms are experiencing a growing process of relocation of production activities abroad. This process mainly regards firms...

In this paper, we try to understand the new spatial division of labour in the automobile supply industry by considering the localization strategies of French first tier suppliers in European Eastern Countries. The analytical hypothesis is : the development of modular production creates the...

This paper seeks to analyze changes in the technical division of labour of Taiwanese automotive parts, and die and mould manufacturers in China using empirical data from a 2010 survey conducted in Kunshan. The evidence shows that these firms have upgraded considerably through strong technical...

The aim of this paper is to provide a basis for rethinking the approach of development through the changes linked to the crisis of industrial capitalism and the ongoing transition toward a "cognitive capitalism". The analysis is organised in three parts. The first one sketches the structural...

ILO pub-WEP pub. Working paper on industrial structure change in a small open economy, comprising a case study of adjustment successes in the Netherlands - discusses the economic structure, economic growth trends (1960-1983), and impact of economic recession and international division of labour...