Strategic coupling and institutional innovation in times of upheavals: the industrial chain chief model in Zhejiang, China

Institutional change in economic geography

Huiwen Gong, Robert Hassink and Cassandra C Wang

Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 2022, vol. 15, issue 2, 279-303

Abstract: For regions that are deeply integrated into the global economy, the question of how to remain competitive and resilient in times of uncertainty is a key concern. While strategic coupling is a useful concept for understanding local-global economic dynamics, the idea that a region can simultaneously couple into multiple production networks organised at different spatial scales and that regional actors can increase their autonomy by creatively combining different coupling scenarios has been little explored. This paper explores how regional institutional innovations can facilitate such multiple couplings. We focus on the industrial chain chief model in China’s Zhejiang province, which emerged against the backdrop of the U.S.-China trade war and the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that this institutional innovation offers a different way of thinking for regions that have long been exposed to the influence of globalisation, and that it increases the agency of local actors in global production networks.

Keywords: strategic coupling; industrial chain; China; globalisation; institutional innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society is currently edited by Judith Clifton, Anna Davies, Betsy Donald, Emil Evenhuis, Stefania Fiorentino (Associate Editor), Harry Garretsen, Meric Gertler, Amy Glasmeier, Mia Gray, Robert Hassink, Dieter Kogler, Michael Kitson, Linda Lobao, Charles van Marrewijk, Ron Martin, Peter Sunley, Peter Tyler and Chun Yang

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