Industrial clusters in a globalizing world. A comparative analysis of industrial upgrading processes in the apparel and automotive industries in Mexico and China

Abstract

This thesis aims to address the mechanisms that underpin industrial upgrading processes in the age of a globalizing economy. This means that it has a look at whether industrial clusters have the ability to acquire new functions with a higher added value within the production of a particular good. In order to trace these upgrading processes, this paper uses the developmental state perspective and the global value chain perspective. The comparison of these two approaches provides an insight in the underlying dynamics of industrial upgrading. The way institutions and value chains exert an effect on industrial upgrading processes is analyzed through an extensive case study of four industrial clusters in Mexico and China.