Industrial Upgrading in the Automotive Industry of Central and Eastern Europe

Authors

  • Adrian Smith University of London, Inglaterra
  • Alceli Ribeiro Alves Universidade Federal do Paraná - UFPR

Keywords:

Industrial upgrading, Automotive industry, Global production networks, international trade, Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

This paper examines the transformations of the East-Central European (ECE) automotive sector in the context of its integration into wider European production networks and focuses on the extent to which this has created opportunities for ECE firms to upgrade in these automotive production networks. The paper draws on global production networks (GPNs) research and makes use of international trade statistics to evaluate the relative shifts in the export of traded motor cars, parts and automotive components from ECE to the main European Union markets between 1995 and 2010. With evidence obtained from the analysis of the value and volume of exports the paper concludes that ECE countries have upgraded in particular categories of passenger cars, although this varies considerably from country to country and across product areas. Therefore, the study emphasises the significance of product-specific analysis to help us understand and determine the extent to which industrial upgrading is occurring in GPNs.

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Author Biographies

Adrian Smith, University of London, Inglaterra

Professor de Geografia Humana da School of Geography, Queen Mary, University of London, Inglaterra

Research areas: economic geography and political economy, globalisation and development, global value chains/global production networks, cities and regions, and post-socialist transformations.

Alceli Ribeiro Alves, Universidade Federal do Paraná - UFPR

Geógrafo, mestre em Geografia pela Queen Mary University of London, QMUL, Inglaterra, doutorando em Geografia pela Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR).

Published

2012-12-12

How to Cite

Smith, A., & Alves, A. R. (2012). Industrial Upgrading in the Automotive Industry of Central and Eastern Europe. Revista Paranaense De Desenvolvimento - RPD, (123), 23–49. Retrieved from https://ipardes.emnuvens.com.br/revistaparanaense/article/view/508

Issue

Section

Dossiê: Indústria e território: transformações e permanências. Organização: Olga Lucia Castreghini de Freitas Firkowski