The Political Economy of Competitiveness in an Enlarged Europe

A political hurdle: entrenching asymmetries and preaching convergence 4 Corporate strategies: espousing or blurring the divides? 11 The globalisation imperative: learning to catch up 17 The content of the book: why outward processing traf®c (OPT)? 22 2 The Neglected Importance of OPT in CEECs' Foreign Trade 26 Trade and production specialisation of CEECs in the literature: ®ndings and shortcomings 26 A map of OPT relations between the EU and CEECs 33 Conclusion 57 3 OPT Partnerships at Firm-Level: a `Learning Approach' 60 An approach to OPT at ®rm-level 60 Evidence from ®eldwork 66 Different types of OPT partnerships 74 Conclusion 81 This book draws its origin from research started at the European University Institute (Florence) for a PhD thesis carried out under the supervision of Professor S. Strange. As such, it is a product of the all-encompassing learning process that working with Susan Strange represents. My debt to her is academic, intellectual, personal and immeasureable. At an early conceptual stage, I greatly bene®ted from the analytical insight of Professor P. Messerlin Julie Pellegrin looks at whether and how production networks develop in Central and Eastern European countries and assesses their chances of catching up with the rest of Europe. Central and Eastern European countries are entering the development race at a crucial juncture in EU enlargement and the wider phenomenon of globalization. In the face of hesitant and controversial EU policy, these countries need to engage sound development strategies. International production networks are expected to be decisive in helping them strengthen their competitiveness and establish knowledge-based economies. In this book, Julie Pellegrin looks at whether and how production networks develop in Central and Eastern European countries and assesses their chances of catching up with the rest of Europe Front Matter....Pages i-xii The Enlargement Problematic: Heterogeneity, Catching up and Convergence....Pages 1-25 The Neglected Importance of OPT in CEECs’ Foreign Trade....Pages 26-59 OPT Partnerships at Firm-Level: a ‘Learning Approach’....Pages 60-82 The Transformation of a Policy Instrument....Pages 83-108 The Politics of OPT....Pages 109-128 Theories of Regional Economic Integration Revisited....Pages 129-151 Conclusion....Pages 152-164 Back Matter....Pages 178-198