Shifting Production to Southeast Asia

Shifting Production to Southeast Asia: Electronics Transnational Corporations Moving to Vietnam since the 2000s is a rare and highly valuable piece that analyses the movements and trajectories of production activities from China to Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam. By using the production network perspective, the authors investigate the recent shifting positions of Asian countries in the labor-intensive manufacturing sector in a timely fashion. In electronics manufacturing sector, Vietnam seems to have the momentum to replace China as an assembly hub, instigating the questions of ""Why?"" and ""How?"" Based on their years long on-site investigations and interviews in both China and Vietnam, the authors provide insightful findings that unveil the complexity of the system, drivers, and mechanisms behind the movement. Not just the enterprises, but the non-enterprise actors at various levels and in different regions also play important roles in driving the relocation and the (de)coupling processes. The research has been extended to cover the latest dynamics in the post-pandemic era when geopolitical tension has heightened. It is interesting to see how different actors responded to the uncertainties and reorganized their production activities. Apart from the empirical advancements, the components related to the global production network framework, are also significant as they contribute an interesting and valuable tile and brick in the broad production network literature. As I have maintained a continuous interest in geography of finance, foreign direct investment, economic geography, industrial shift, and published voluminous related research articles over the years, I feel greatly encouraged to read this recent addition to the related fields. I'm glad to attest to the excellence and necessity of the book and wholeheartedly recommend it to readers. --Simon Xiaobin Zhao, Beijing Normal University This timely work unpacks the global relocation of the electronic sector, increasingly driven by forces beyond the leading transnational corporations from the ""Global North."" A thoroughly researched, deeply well-informed and thought-provoking book by two economic geographers! --Fenghua Pan, Beijing Normal University Despite the explosion of research on global value chains and production networks in recent times, rigorous book length studies of production network restructuring are still relatively few and far between. In that context, this detailed and thoughtful study of Asia's consumer electronics industry, and in particular production relocation from China to Vietnam, is very welcome. It tells a fascinating empirical story as well as distilling a range of theoretical implications for production network theory. Highly recommended. --Neil M. Coe, University of Sydney