Tradeoffs
Globalization From Below: The Re-spatialisation of Industry and Labor in Brazil
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jacob Lima
This research analyzes the new configurations of labor resulting from the processes of industrial restructuring and the insertion of new territories to the logic of global capitalist production. It discusses the processes of reespacialization of industrial sectors in Brazil, favored by the fiscal war between state and municipal governments, and the impacts of these processes in places without industrial tradition or organized labor. Outsourcing networks incorporate territories once linked to traditional rural activities and economically stagnant, that provide cheap and schooled labor. We have as an empirical focus in the sector of clothing and the automobile industry and the transfers, from the 1990s, of production units from the southeast region, dynamic economic center of the country, to the northeast region, with a production focused on the national and international market. The research has the support of CNPq - National Research Council of Brasil.
Adjusting to International Trade Shocks: The Experiences of the European Union and the United States
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session David Bartlett, Tomasz Mroczkowski
The Trump Administration’s recent moves in foreign trade–withdrawal from TPP, tariffs on China, threats to trade partners in Europe and North America–dramatize the populist backlash underpinning Donald Trump’s election. At the same time, the European Union has proceeded with major free trade agreements (notably Canada and Japan) that signal the EU’s continued commitment to trade liberalization amid the anti-globalization movement. These divergent trends reflect the differing approaches of the EU and US toward trade adjustment. Several EU countries have enacted robust labor market adjustment programs to support workers dislocated by trade competition (e.g., Denmark’s “Flexicurity” system). Supplementing national-level programs, the EU launched the European Globalization Adjustment Fund (EFG) to hasten the reintegration of displaced workers. By contrast, the US Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program remains woefully underfunded and inadequate to the needs of American workers dislocated by globalization. Measured as a share of GDP, Germany spends eight times more on labor market adjustment than the United States. This paper delivers a comparative analysis of trade adjustment programs in the European Union and the United States. Drawing on statistical sources, published reports, and interviews of trade officials, the paper addresses design of adjustment programs funding mechanisms and outcomes for dislocated workers. The paper (1) augments the scholarly literature on the microeconomic effects of globalization, and (2) specifies ways European and American policymakers can strengthen trade adjustment programs and thereby mitigate the anti-globalization backlash that threatens the liberal international economic order.
Local to Global for Regional Innovation: A Study of Japanese Municipal International Strategy
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Naoki Fujiwara, Hitoshi Umemura
Regional economic development has been discussed from the viewpoint of endogenous development, but in recent years, research on theoretical study of regional revitalization by utilizing the resources outside the region is increasing. However, little research has examined municipal industrial promotion policy overseas. We investigate the formulation and contents of the municipal international strategy by assessing the measures and procedures of creating regional innovations through international exchange. Ninety-eight Japanese municipalities were investigated to how these governments promote the international exchange programs for regional innovation. We found that the Japanese municipalities intend to promote international economic exchange to incorporate dynamic economic growth of Asian countries. In terms of the intergovernmental partnership, Japanese municipalities create international exchange projects in the high-technology and tourism fields which may result to the business opportunities in the future. Finally, we discuss the implications for the regional innovation process and the project management of the municipal international strategy. Given the rapid globalization in recent years, our findings can be utilized in the studies that examine the development of local to global relationship and international city network for creating regional innovation.
