Lead Firms in the Cocoa-Chocolate Global Production Network

An Assessment of the Deductive Capabilities of GPN 2.0

Bibliographic Data

ID4043353
AuthorsJohn Neilson (0000-0003-2560-2190, School of Geosciences University of Sydney, Sydney New South Wales 2006 Australia, corresponding author), Bill Pritchard (0000-0001-7506-2095, School of Geosciences University of Sydney, Sydney New South Wales 2006 Australia), Niels Fold (0000-0002-1133-6525, Institute of Geography University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen K DK-1350 Denmark), Angga Dwiartama (0000-0003-4924-1449, School of Life Sciences and Technology Bandung Institute of Technology, Bandung Jawa Barat Indonesia)
Year2018
Volume94
Issue4
Pages400-424
Publication date2018-08-08
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEconomic Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-0095 • E-ISSN: 1944-8287
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00130095.2018.1426989
OpenAlexW2801045903
LanguageEN
Citations received40
References cited39

Recent models of Global Production Network Theory (known as GPN 2.0) have attempted to theoretically explain the underlying determinants, or causal drivers, of particular industry network configurations, which in turn shape the territorial outcomes for regional development. To date, the ability of this ambitious conceptual model to thereby explain economic geography has remained largely untested beyond the select industry networks examined by its proponents, most notably the electronics, retail, and automotive sectors of East Asia. In this article, we stress test the causative model for the case of lead firms in the global cocoa–chocolate sector, and assess its ability to subsequently explain industry configurations and territorial outcomes in a particular country: Indonesia. Our application suggests that GPN 2.0 has considerable utility for directing empirical research, but challenges beset its fuller theoretical promise. We identify a problematic relationship between the deductive causality implied by GPN 2.0 and the inherent relationality of GPN 1.0 that remains, in our view, unresolved. As a result, we remain skeptical of the broader theoretical claims that GPN 2.0 possesses explanatory powers capable of deducing industry network configurations from a discrete set of supposedly independent variables

Automotive industry · Biology · Business · Causality (physics) · Economic geography · Economics · Epistemology · Explanatory model · Industrial organization · Lead (geology) · Microeconomics · Production (economics) · Set (abstract data type) · Skepticism · Computer Science · Global trade and economics · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · Organic Food and Agriculture

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub