Regional agility and upgrading in Hong Kong and the PRD (SPP 1233 phase 2)

The success of the economy of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) with producing and exporting low-tech products can only be understood taking into account institutions and business organization. Manufacturers in the PRD cooperate closely with parent companies in Hong Kong. Hierarchical business relations and flexibility deriving from informal governance modes create their competitive advantage. However, it is far from clear how this agile way of business organization will develop during the phase of rapid restructuring that has recently started to shape the PRD’s economy: More and more firms are enhancing their technological and management capabilities; setting the base for an upgrading of the overall economy, which is also complemented by education and training efforts. Hence, the aim of the proposed research project is to find out how agility and upgrading affect each other and contribute to regional economic change. Thus, the project will contribute to conceptualizing regional agility and a more profound understanding of the roots and the prospects of the PRD’s future as one of Asia’s leading megacity-regions. 

Publications:

• 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.
• Fu, W.; Revilla Diez, J.; Schiller, D. (2012): Interactive Learning, Informal Networks and Innovation: Evidence from Electronics Firm Survey in the Pearl River Delta, China. Research Policy. DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2012.09.006
• Fu, W.; Revilla Diez, J.; Schiller, D. (2012): Regional innovation systems within a transitional context: evolutionary comparison of the electronics industry in Shenzhen and Dongguan since the opening of China. Journal of Economic Surveys 26(3): 534-550.
• Schiller, D. (2012): Informal dynamics of economic processes - remarks on the potential of the informality concept. Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsgeographie 56 (1/2): 1-8.
• Hartmann, P.; Schiller, D.; Kraas, F. (2012): Workplace quality and labour turnover in the electronics industry of the Pearl River Delta, China: contrasting employer and employee perspectives. Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsgeographie 56 (1/2): 58-79.
• Fu, W.; Schiller, D.; Revilla Diez, J. (2012): Strategies of using social proximity and organizational proximity in product innovation: empirical insight from the Pearl River Delta, China. Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsgeographie 56 (1/2): 80-96.
• Kroll, H.; Schiller, D. (2012): Upgrading strategies of electronics firms within the regional innovation system of the Pearl River Delta. In: Petti, C. (Ed.): Technological Entrepreneurship in China. How Does it Work?. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 41-65.
• Meyer, S.; Schiller, D.; Revilla Diez, J. (2012): The localization of electronics manufacturing in the Greater Pearl River Delta, China: do global implants put down local roots? Applied Geography 32(1): 119-129.
• Schiller, D. (2011): Upgrading strategies of firms from emerging economies in global value chains: three cases from the electronics industry in Hong Kong. Geographische Zeitschrift 99(4): 185-201.
• Fu, W.; Revilla Diez, J.; Schiller, D. (2011): Evolving into a Regional Innovation System: How Governance impact on Innovation in Shenzhen and Dongguan, China? Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography #11.19.  Download 
  
• Schiller, D. (2011): The role of foreign and domestic firms in regional innovation systems of latecomer countries: empirical evidence from the electronics industry in the Pearl River Delta. Erdkunde 65(1): 25-42.
• Fu, W.; Revilla Diez, J. (2010): Knowledge Spillover and Technological Upgrading: The Case of Guangdong Province China. In: Asian Journal of Technology Innovation. Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 187-217.
• Revilla Diez, J.; Schiller, D.; Meyer, S. (2010): 探讨香港-珠江三角洲的联系：跨界的制度多样性如何促进电子企业的竞争力 (Exploring the Hong Kong-Pearl River Delta Link: How Institutional Diversity across Border Regions Fosters the Competitiveness of Electronics Firms). South China Journal of Economics 28(5): 69-80.
• Kroll, H.; Schiller, D. (2010): Establishing an interface between public sector applied research and the Chinese enterprise sector: Preparing for 2020. Technovation 30 (2): 117-129.
• Meyer, S.; Schiller, D.; Revilla Diez, J. (2009): The Janus-faced Economy: Hong Kong Firms as Intermediaries between global Customers and local Producers in the Electronics Industry. In: Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie (TESG) 100, No. 2, pp. 224-235.
• Kroll, H.; Schiller, D. (2009): Managing the Interface between Public Sector Applied Research and Technological Development in the Chinese Enterprise Sector. Fraunhofer ISI Discussion Papers Innovation System and Policy Analysis, No. 17. Download
 

Presentations to Scientific Audiences:

• Fu., W.; Revilla Diez, J.; Schiller, D.: Towards a dynamic regional innovation system: Investigation into the Electronics Industry in the Pearl River Delta. 9th Asialics International Conference 04.-05. Oktober 2012, Manila.
• Schiller, D.: Personalization of Business Relations in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta: Institutional Necessity or Strategic Opportunity? International Conference on Urbanization and Development in China. 26.-28. August 2011. University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA.
• 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. 3rd Global Conference on Economic Geography. 28. Juni - 02. Juli 2011. Seoul, Südkorea.
• Fu, W.; Revilla Diez, J.; Schiller, D.: An emerging innovative milieu in the Pearl River Delta, China? The role of social and organizational proximity for product innovation. 3rd Global Conference on Economic Geography. 28. Juni - 02. Juli 2011. Seoul, Südkorea.
• Schiller, D.: Aufwertungsstrategien von Unternehmen aus Schwellenländern in modularen Wertschöpfungsketten: drei Fallstudien aus der Elektronikindustrie Hongkongs. Workshop "Neue Macht aus der Peripherie? Akteure aus Entwicklungsländern in der Globalisierung". 12.-13. November 2010. Marburg.
• Schiller, D.: Spatial and organisational transition of an East Asian high-growth region: the electronics industry in the Greater Pearl River Delta. 3rd Summer Conference in Regional Science. Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung. Hannover, 25.-26. Juni 2010. 
• Schiller, D.: The localization of electronics manufacturing in the Greater Pearl River Delta: Do Global Implants Put Down Local Roots? TransCoop-Workshop on Transnational Corporations, Knoweldge, and Networks in China''s Regional Economy. Gießen, 21.-23. Juni 2010.
• Schiller, D.: Spatial and organisational transition of an East Asian high-growth region: the electronics industry in the Greater Pearl River Delta. Industrial Transition Workshop of the IGU Commission on the Dynamics of Economic Spaces. 20.-22. Mai 2010. Schloss Wahn. Köln. 
• Schiller, D.: Innovation and corporate governance in the electronics industry of South China: in what way do foreign and domestic firms differ? DIME Workshop on "Industrial Dynamics and Sectoral Systems in Developing Countries" 10.-11. Dezember 2009. Università Bocconi. Mailand.
• Schiller, D.: Die wirtschaftsgeographische Dimension des Aufstiegs Chinas. Vorträge auf Einladung der Schulbuchverlage Westermann, Schroedel, Diesterweg, Schöningh und Winklers. 02. November 2009 in Braunschweig, 04. November 2009 in Hannover, 27. November 2009 in Bramsche.
• Schiller, D.: Die Bedeutung von Informalität für Geschäftsprozesse in der Elektronikindustrie Hongkongs und des Perlflussdeltas. 10. Symposium zur Wirtschaftsgeographie. 23.-25. April 2009. Rauischholzhausen.
•  Hennemann, S.; Fu, W.: Firm Agility, upgrading of managerial, technological and individual capabilities in GPRD. Presentation at Cooperation Workshop Megacities-Megachallenge. Informal Dynamics of Global Change. Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, China. 14.11.2008.