Regional Trade and Production Blocs in a Global Industry: Towards a Comparative Framework for Research

Jennifer Bair
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Jennifer Bair: Department of Sociology, Yale University, PO Box 208265, 104 Williams Hall, 80 Sachem Street, New Haven, CT 06520-8265, USA

Environment and Planning A, 2006, vol. 38, issue 12, 2233-2252

Abstract: While apparel manufacturing is often considered the quintessential global industry, the regional dimension of trade and production in the textile and clothing sector is less widely noted. In this paper I discuss two macroregional production blocs: North America (defined as the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean Basin countries) and Greater Europe [which includes the European Union (EU), Central and Eastern Europe, Turkey, and North Africa]. Analyzing what opportunities regionalization might provide is particularly relevant given China's increasing dominance of both the EU and US import markets in the post-Multifibre Arrangement period. Drawing on the global commodity chains literature, I discuss three dimensions around which cross-regional comparative research on the European and North American apparel sectors can be organized: (1) production model; (2) institutional context; and (3) development outcomes. Several similarities between these production blocs are noted, particularly with regard to the intraregional division of labor expressed by networks connecting firms in higher-wage and lower-wage countries and the coexistence of assembly subcontracting and full-package manufacturing in both regions, but differences include the existence in Europe of a stronger textile base and a more expansive regionalization strategy (as suggested by the Euro–Mediterranean Partnership), which may strengthen the competitiveness of the Greater European bloc vis-à -vis its North American counterpart.

Date: 2006
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:38:y:2006:i:12:p:2233-2252

DOI: 10.1068/a38260

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