Strategic coupling of local firms in global production networks: the rise of the home appliance industry in Shunde, China

Abstract

This paper examines the rise of the home appliance industry in Shunde, a city district of Foshan municipality located in the western Pearl River Delta (PRD), China. It contributes to the literature of China’s industrialization and regional development by revealing the salient Shunde model, distinctive from the export-oriented development prevailing in the eastern PRD. Based on intensive field investigation and firm-level interviews, this paper argues that the Shunde model is attributed to the proactive roles of local firms in establishing domestic market-oriented production networks and expanding global market reach. They mobilized regional assets to develop strategic coupling with foreign firms in a conducive institutional environment for industrial catch-up. This viable trajectory has valuable policy implications for latecomer regions in the aftermath of global financial crisis.

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