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From the re-emergence of Japan as an industrial power in the 1950s through to the contemporary rise of China as a potential economic and political behemoth, the story of East Asian development has been central to any serious analysis of the dynamics and trajectory of the global political economy. Integrated into a coherent, critical narrative, this book examines key political-economic and social dynamics that helped forge the 'miracle' economies of East Asia and continue to drive them forward in the volatile circumstances of our current epoch. It analyses the relation between the state and mar

ABSTRACTWhile Europe has become the principal venue for new Chinese foreign direct investment, little of it has resulted in new (greenfield) production or research and development facilities. The bulk of this investment has been used to take over European companies, outstripping Chinese acquisitions in North America by 800 per cent. While some takeovers have been of insurance, sports, luxury goods and similar non‐strategic companies, many have been of innovation‐driven firms. This article explores the reasons for the preference — by Chinese state‐ and privately owned companies — for takeovers of this type of European company. Its working hypothesis is that there are correspondences between the continuing weaknesses in China's innovation system and the fact that Chinese companies have been partially shut out of the US and Japan, leading to the focus on cutting‐edge technological acquisitions in Europe. While these correspondences cannot be proven empirically, the article suggests that, given the available evidence and the context in which it arises (particularly the Chinese government's 'Made in China 2025' industrial agenda), the balance of presumption must be that these are key dynamics driving China's European acquisitions programme. Amongst its conclusions, the article suggests that Chinese corporate takeovers arguably problematize the future of European innovation and competitiveness and thus the technological robustness of Europe's economic development.

AbstractThe rise of 'greater' China (which includes mainland China, the 'special administrative regions' of Hong Kong and Macao and – particularly for our purposes – Taiwan), marks a transformative process in terms of the global political economy. China is now the world's second biggest economy, and continues to post double‐digit growth despite the global downturn. More significant than the numeric size of China's economy per se, is the extraordinary scale at which it is combining labour with capital to transform raw materials into commodities and, as part of that process, embedding the potential for innovation within China's political economy and society. In the introductory article to this special issue, we highlight the implications arising from the dynamism of Greater China for the evolving structures of global production networks (GPNs). The GPN framework provides a powerful analytical tool with which to map the shifting nature of corporate power and capital in the global economy and their consequences for local producers and regions. The externalization of the Chinese political economy and, with it, the emergence of Chinese lead firms, suggests that Western‐centric views on GPNs are likely to be challenged. We outline the ways in which the contributions to this special issue throw light on this, and the implications that arise for analysis of GPNs within China as well as for other developing countries. We conclude by considering the consequences this transformative process has for the developmental project and how it might be theorized.

AbstractIn terms of ownership and operations, many companies in Eastern Europe have now been integrated into the world economy. In this article, informed in part by a critical engagement with the Global Commodity Chains (GCC) perspective, we explore the nature and significance of international linkages among firms in Eastern Europe. In particular, we argue that it has been the legacies of the state socialist past embedded in the inherited macro‐ and microeconomic structures, on the one hand, and the strategies of multinational firms on the other, rather than the international linkages in any simple sense, that have been the main influencing factors. While we do not deny the existence of inter‐firm relations similar to the ones described in the GCC literature, we point out that these relationships are much more complex than assumed in that approach and that this complexity is a product of the very different historical backgrounds and modes of incorporation into the world economy of the various Eastern European societies. Drawing on empirical evidence from Hungary and focusing specifically on employment and other labour issues, we argue that there are a variety of firm development paths in Eastern Europe and that these have differing implications for the integration of firms, regions and countries of Eastern Europe into the world economy.