ESPON TIGER PROJECT Institute of Geography - BAS role in the project Kick-off meeting May 2010, Brussels

I. Introduction II. Previous studies III. Role in the project

I. Introduction  IG- BAS since 1950  3 Departments Physical geography Economic and social geography Geoinformatics  Scientific and applied research  PhD programmes

Economic and social geography Research areas:  Regional development policy and planning;  Analyses of post-socialist regional economic and social restructuring;  Globalization of production;  Regional labour markets and division of labour  Population and Urbanization  European integration and cooperation  Cross-border relations

II. Previous studies  Reconfiguring Economies, Communities, and Regions in Post– Socialist Europe: Competitive Pressure, New Firm Creation, and Outward Processing in the Apparel Industry. Case studies: Bulgaria and Slovakia. National Science Foundation, USA. PIs: Prof. J.Pickles – University of NC, USA; Prof. R.Begg- Indiana University of PA, USA; Prof. A. Smith – Queen Mary College, University of London, UK.

 2 countries  2 types of Regions - Old traditional producers and peripheral regions  202 firms in BG  107 firms in SK  More than 100 key informant interviews

Main arguments (a)  The vital role of EU trade policies and customs agreements since the 1980s in encouraging European manufacturers and retail buyers to expand their production networks into ECE  This expansion of European production networks and the internationalization of ECE manufactures have been built on prior histories of contracting between state-socialist enterprises and trade organizations in ECE and their Western buyers  The threats of increased competition and downgrading have produced a diversity of strategies and forms in the industry which cause us to think seriously about what we understand by industrial upgrading

Main arguments (b)  in this phase of industrial restructuring long-overlooked domestic markets seem to be playing a more important role  the experiences of ECE raise questions about models of regional change in the industry based too narrowly on wage costs and wage differentials Deliverables: More than 10 papers and publications on the above listed arguments

THE MOVING FRONTIER: The Changing Geography of Production in Labor- Intensive Industries. Sixth Framework Program, EC, Priority 7 ‘Citizens and Governance in a Knowledge Based Society’; Prof. L. Labrianidis, RDPR - University of Macedonia. Thessaloniki, Greece

Scale and Scope 5 countries  UK  Greece  Poland  Estonia  Bulgaria 4 industries  Clothing  Footwear  Software  Electronics 756 surveyed firms 120 key informant interviews

Delocalisation phenomena in LLI Why? - Not only labour cost matter but the overall environment How? – ‘diversity is the name of the game’ Firm’s strategy is multidimensional Importance of interplay of strong linkages: positive effect of lock-in strategies with long-lasting relationships of mutual confidence and trust Proximity matters

So what? - IMPACT Diverse consequences for country, region, industry or firm  Strong and Weak regions – state/regional policy is important for host countries especially  Home country effects - overestimation of job losses and loss of competences. The negative impacts are local and in short-term (Northamptonshire case). Some industries are replaced by new ones. Delocalization in Europe is not a ‘race to the bottom’ in terms of its effects on employment

Book, 2008, Ashgate, Economic Geography Series Four Theoretical Analyses Four Industry Analyses A range of additional papers

TIGER _ WP Economic Flows and Networks IG will contribute to the assessment of the position of Europe and its regions in the international division of labour by Value Chain and Commodity Chain approaches -Literature review – publications with strong spatial perspective -New analyses of selected sectors

GPN incl.. elements of GCC, GVC and ANT  Value - creation, enhancement and capturing  Power – corporate, institutional and collective  Embeddedness – social, territorial and network

Research questions  Identification of distribution and implementation of production tasks within the value/commodity chains  Organizational forms and related governance structures within the value/commodity chains  Territorial impact - new labour practices, new gateways for the local producers, etc.

WP 2.4. Political coordination and networks Role of supralevel regulations as well as bilateral agreements is undisputable for integration of CEEC in regional networks CEEC are involved in EU/regional production networks and in strong cross border social and economic relations with OMS

THANK YOU !