Regional worlds: from related variety in regional diversification to strategic coupling in global production networks

This annual lecture paper bridges two influential but parallel literature strands on evolutionary economic geography (EEG) and global production networks (GPN). It argues that both strands are premised on their different conceptions of 'regional worlds' of production - a more endogenous view in EEG and a more relational view of 'interconnected worlds' of production in GPN studies. Drawing on EEG's core concept of related variety in regional diversification, the paper theorizes how regional strategic coupling with GPN can serve as a causal mechanism for realizing related diversification by highlighting the importance of extra-local/regional linkages and production network dynamics.