Global Production Networks

This course discusses how the geography of uneven development and sustainability in the global economy has been shaped by two key trends in the past three decades a) the geographical dispersal of the production of goods and services across multiple international locations and b) the organizational separation of different production functions across independent firms. Through the lens of the insights, frameworks and terminology surrounding Global Production Networks, this course examines how these trends are shaped by the business strategies and practices of transnational corporations which take place in the interface between economics, politics, culture, and the environment. Drawing on case studies from global production networks within specific industries, students will learn to understand and explain the possibilities and limitations for development and sustainability in cities, regions, and nations connected to these global production networks. Insights from the course are relevant for discussions surrounding corporate social responsibility and sustainable development.

A student who has completed this course should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge:

• has gained theoretical knowledge on economic, political, environmental, social and cultural aspects of global production networks.
• has insight into corporate strategies related to product and market development, foreign direct investment, and outsourcing.
• has insight into state policy on attracting foreign direct investment and/or upgrading the capabilities of local firms, in addition to regulating and mitigating economic and environmental consequences of globalization.
• has comprehensive insight into the relations between processes of economic globalization and company strategies and state policies in order for students to better understand uneven development in the global economy.

Skills:

• has skills in academic writing on these topics.
• has skills in investigating the organization and implications of global production networks surrounding development and sustainability
• has skills in investigating how state policy, regulation, labor movements, trade agreements, and civil society mobilization shapes the geographical and organizational configurations of global production networks.

General competence:

• has relevant competence for work in companies and organizations operating internationally.
• has relevant competence for evaluating policy and regulations related to economic development and internationalization.
• has relevant competence for accounting for and explaining uneven developmental outcomes in the global economy

Up to 24 hours lectures and in-class activities, a company visit and assignment.