Dissertation Reseach: The Global Apparel Industry and Transnational Production Networks: North American Economic Integration and the Southern California-Mexico Connection

在20世纪90年代，服装生产的地理位置发生了戏剧性的转移，从东亚转向西半球。这一变化对在这一行业中占突出地位的民族国家的经济发展产生了重大影响，但更重要的是在跨国/区域一级产生了影响。这篇博士论文研究了全球服装生产的一个关键的跨国网络，自北美自由贸易协定(NAFTA)通过以来，这个网络几乎没有受到经验上的关注。南加州/墨西哥服装生产网络是大洛杉矶制造商、设计师和零售商以及墨西哥承包商和企业家的聚集地。这项研究解决了五个主要问题：1)在过去五年中，哪些类型的生产活动转移到了墨西哥，转移到了什么程度？2)北美自由贸易协定的通过和/或1994年12月墨西哥货币崩溃是否加速了搬迁？3)东亚服装企业家是否通过北美自由贸易协定的“后门”渗透到北美市场？如果是的话，如何？4)生产活动的地理变化如何影响南加州服装业和墨西哥的相关生产区？5)墨西哥在服装“商品链”中的地位变化将在多大程度上使其能够通过向链上更高附加值的“节点”转移，来追随东亚提高出口竞争力的道路。为了回答这些问题，这项研究将利用调查数据、二手数据和选定的案例研究中的数据，这些数据来自边境两侧的公司、承包商和顾问。除了对经济政策的影响外，研究结果还应有助于发展商品链分析，以此作为理解全球生产方式转变的当地后果的一种方法。

In the 1990s, the geographical location of apparel production has witnessed a dramatic shift away from East Asia and toward the western hemisphere. This change has significant implications for economic development at the level of the nation-states that figure prominently in this industry, but even more important consequences at the transnational/regional level. This doctoral dissertation project examines a critical transnational network of global apparel production that has received little empirical attention since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The southern California/Mexico apparel production network is a cluster of greater L.A. manufacturers, designers, and retailers, and Mexico-based contractors and entrepreneurs. This study addresses five overarching questions: 1) What types of production activities have shifted to Mexico over the past five years, and to what degree? 2) Was relocation accelerated by the passage of NAFTA and/or the December 1994 Mexico monetary collapse? 3) Are East Asian apparel entrepreneurs penetrating the North American market through NAFTA's "back door," and if so, how? 4) How have geographical changes in production activities affected both the southern California garment industry and related production regions in Mexico? 5) To what extent will Mexico's changing position in the apparel "commodity chain" enable it to follow the East Asian path of enhanced export competitiveness by moving up to the more higher-value added "nodes" on the chain. To answer these questions, the study will utilize survey data, secondary data, and data from selected case studies of firms, contractors, and consultants on both sides of the border. Aside from economic policy implications, the results should contribute to the development of commodity chain analysis as an approach to understanding the local consequences of shifting patterns of global production.