Institute of Economic and Cultural Geography Research Research projects
Regional agility in the wake of crisis: Towards a new growth model in the Greater Pearl River Delta? (SPP 1233, 3. Phase)

Regional agility in the wake of crisis: Towards a new growth model in the Greater Pearl River Delta? (SPP 1233, 3. Phase)

Led by:  Prof. Dr. J. Revilla Diez, Dr. D. Schiller (Univerity of Hannover), Prof. Dr. I. Liefner, Dr. S. Hennemann (Univerity of Giessen), Prof. Dr. F. Kraas (University of Cologne), Dr. D. Dohse, Prof. Dr. R. Soltwedel (University of Kiel)
Team:  Prof. Dr. Javier Revilla Diez, Dr. Daniel Schiller, Dr. Wenying Fu
Year:  2014
Funding:  German Research Foundation (DFG); priority programme 1233 "Megacities - Megachallenge: Informal Dynamics of Global Change" (2006-2012)
Duration:  2010 - 2014
Is Finished:  yes

During the first two phases of the priority program, the research team focused on the interdependence of informality and flexible firm organization (agile firms) and on the role of informality for upgrading and innovation in the Greater Pearl River Delta (GPRD) region (regional agility). In the third phase, the team will investigate the long-term structural effects of the crisis on the drivers of growth in the PRD which have been derived and consolidated from the results of the first and the second phases.

The main research aims are (i) to establish whether and how the agility of firms and of the region in general has been sustained amid the recent crisis and (ii) to find out what kind of post-crisis structural adjustments will affect the growth determinants in the Greater Pearl River Delta. Four determinants have been identified during the first two phases that are critical for the future success of the region, namely the enterprise sector, especially foreign and domestic private firms in the electronics industry, human capital formation, particularly university graduates, the government and the related institutional environment, and the dynamics of global trade and investment.

Publications:

  • Schiller D.; Burger M.J.; Karreman B. (2015): The functional and sectoral division of labour between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta: from complementarities in production to competition in producer services? Environment and Planning A 47(1): 188-208.
  • Schiller, D. (2014): Personalization of business relations in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta. An institutional necessity or a strategic opportunity? In: Liefner, I.; Wei, Y. D. (Hrsg.): Innovation and Regional Development in China. New York: Routledge. S. 167-190.
  • Schiller, D. (2013): An Institutional Perspective on Production and Upgrading. The Electronics Industry in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta. Megacities and Global Change 12. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.
  • Revilla Diez, J.; Schiller, D.; Meyer, S. (2013): Capitalising on Institutional Diversity and Complementary Resources in Cross-Border Metropolitan Regions: The Case of Electronics Firms in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta. in: Klaesson, J.; Johansson, B.; Karlsson, C. (eds.): Metropolitan Regions Knowledge Infrastructures of the Global Economy. Springer. 393-424.
  • Schiller, D. (2012): Spatial and organisational transition of an East Asian high-growth region: the electronics industry in the Greater Pearl River Delta. In: Fromhold-Eisebith, M.; Fuchs, M. (Eds.): Industrial Transition: New Global-Local Patterns of Production, Work, and Innovation. Farnham: Ashgate, 189-212.

Presentations to Scientific Audiences:

  • Schiller, D.: The “front shop, back factory” model in transition: from complementarities in production to competition in business services?. Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers (AAG). 24.-28. Feburar 2012. New York.
  • Schiller, D.; Kroll, H.: The global economic crisis as leverage for emerging regional growth paths in China? A comparison of tentative evidence from the three major economic regions. Annual Conference of the Chinese Economic Association (Europe/UK) at the University of Oxford. 12.-13. Juli 2010. Oxford University.