Market rebalancing of global production networks in the Post-Washington Consensus globalizing era: Transformation of export-oriented development in China

Abstract

The current global financial crisis has prompted researchers to revisit the export-oriented development models, known as the ‘Washington Consensus’ paradigm, that have prevailed in East Asia during the past few decades. Host domestic markets have been generally neglected in the conceptual construct and empirical analysis of export-oriented development. Drawing upon the global production networks (GPNs) perspective, the study advances an evolutionary framework to shed light on the rising domestic market in China as emerging dynamics of regional transformation in contemporary economic globalization. The study is conducted based on updated investigations of the market rebalancing of transnational corporations (TNCs) in China, and particularly the Pearl River Delta (PRD), in response to the post-crisis global–local interaction. It argues that the institutional and network embeddedness of TNCs in the processing trade regime have hampered their ‘recoupling’ with the domestic market and ‘decoupling’ from external markets. Instead, a domestic market oriented production network is emerging, driven by strategic contract manufacturers through relocation to inland China. As a pilot attempt to articulate the domestic market in the GPN framework, this study urges more research to reflect the implications of the restructuring of GPNs and market reorientation of TNCs for reshaping regional trajectories in the post-Washington Consensus global economy.

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