THE NEW REGIONALISM - DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES AND REGIONAL COLLABORATIVE COMPETITION

In an era of growing competition where market dominance is increasingly based on technical competence, how do we assess the ability of developing countries to overcome what appears to be an insurmountable disadvantage? The working hypothesis of this paper is that the present context contains conditions that have induced not only a realignment of north-south economic relations. but also the emergence of globally competitive technological capacity in selected developing countries. These countries effectively challenge prevailing views of third world countries as either suppliers of primary products or subordinate members of global production strategies, specializing in low value added products and standardized, obsolescent technologies. The outcome is a convergence of interests between capital and states expressed as forms of regional collaborative competition, or competition based on the collaboration of firms and governments at the regional level. The ability of countries to enter into this type of relationship hinges on their level of technological development and assertion into entrepreneurial activity. This analysis draws on international statistics, and examples from the global automobile industry. The theoretical discussion is based in concepts concerning changing boundaries of the firm, the role of the state, technology and developing countries, and theories of innovation.