Trans-Regional Communities and External Coupling: a Geographical Perspective on Regional Development of the Chaoshan Region, China
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TRANS-REGIONAL COMMUNITIES AND EXTERNAL COUPLING: A GEOGRAPHICAL PERSPECTIVE ON REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHAOSHAN REGION, CHINA CHEN RUI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2012 TRANS-REGIONAL COMMUNITIES AND EXTERNAL COUPLING: A GEOGRAPHICAL PERSPECTIVE ON REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHAOSHAN REGION, CHINA CHEN RUI B.A. and M.SSc. (Peking University) A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2012 Acknowledgements I remain extremely thankful for this page to acknowledge the vital contributions of many that have impacted on this dissertation and my academic journey. It has been an unforgettable learning experience in Singapore that I will always cherish. I am grateful for the financial support that I have received from the National University of Singapore which has made my stay and research in Singapore and China possible. First of all, I extend my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Professor Henry Yeung, for his guidance, encouragement, and his faith in my work. I came to Singapore without any background of Geography. He has guided me into this journey, and always supported me to persist in the topic of Teochews that I was interested in, although it sounded not so “geographical” at the beginning. No words can express my appreciation and respect to him, a wonderful mentor in my life. The other members of my committee, A/P Godfrey Yeung and Dr Jun Zhang, have greatly contributed to my learning and writing process through their thoughtful comments, insightful critiques, and sound advice. I am particularly grateful for their time and effort in reading and commenting my dissertation, which used to be rather long-winded and discursive. I appreciate the input from Tracey Skelton, Natalie Oswin, T.C. Chang, Carl Grundy- Warr, Pow Choon Piew, Maribeth Erb, Lily Kong, Harvey Neo, Karen Lai, who, at various points during my study in NUS, enhanced my academic capability, understanding of Geography, and reflection on my research. I also thank Pauline for her administrative support. Thanks to International Society of Chaozhou Studies and all my respondents who share their knowledge and insights with me. I especially thank those who utilized their own resources to help me extend the networks of interviewees, including Mr. Yang Ximing, Liu Yi, Chen Lin, Mr. Huang Zexiong, Uncle Chen, and Uncle Zhang Zhiren, to name just a few. My fellow post-graduates have offered me advice, friendship, and companionship, in particular: Jiajie, Liu Song, Rana, Menusha, Lina, Lishan, Xiankun, Kanchan, and Diganta. I am truly grateful to my friends Cuifen, who has been accompanying me from Beijing to Singapore in the past eight years, and never hesitated to give me her generous kindness; and Liu Yi, who has been working with me side by side during our Ph.D. candidatures, not only as my classmate, but also as my comrade. I feel extremely fortunate to have such a fabulous friend to study together and share our research and life. Finally, I would like to thank my family. Located on the other side of the globe, Yang Ming has put great effort to generate a relational proximity with me and to support me. I am particularly indebted to my parents, Chen Jinhao and Zhang Zhixiang, who have been offering me endless and unconditional love all these years. i This page is left blank on purpose. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... i Summary ................................................................................................................................. vi List of Figures ....................................................................................................................... viii List of Tables........................................................................................................................... ix Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1 “Fifth Avenue style shows its origins”: global networks of Chaoshan commodities ............................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 A trans-regional perspective on regional development.............................................. 4 1.3 The Chaoshan region and the Teochew community .................................................. 9 1.4 Organization of thesis ................................................................................................. 15 Chapter 2 Literature review of regional development: organizational, cognitive and socio-institutional approaches .............................................................................................. 18 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 18 2.2 Organizational approaches to regional development............................................... 19 2.2.1 Intra-regional analysis: Marshallian districts and new industrial spaces............... 20 2.2.2 Trans-regional processes: neo-Marshallian nodes and the diversification of industrial districts............................................................................................................ 23 2.3 Cognitive approaches to regional development........................................................ 27 2.4 Socio-institutional approaches to regional development ......................................... 32 2.4.1 Sources of theoretical ideas: embeddedness, conventions, and the mode of social regulation ........................................................................................................................ 33 2.4.2 Intra-regional analysis: institutional arrangements and social norms.................... 36 2.4.3 Trans-regional processes: governance, transnational communities, and strategic coupling with global production networks ..................................................................... 40 2.5 Concluding remarks: towards a multi-scalar analysis ............................................ 45 Chapter 3 External coupling in regional development ...................................................... 48 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 48 3.2 Reinterpreting external coupling from a multi-scalar perspective......................... 49 3.2.1 Theoretical background: endogenous assets and external coupling ...................... 50 3.2.2 A multi-scalar framework for analyzing external coupling................................... 55 3.2.3 Unpacking the mechanisms of external coupling .................................................. 59 ii 3.3 Trans-regional communities and external coupling................................................. 63 3.3.1 Community embeddedness of trans-regional business system.............................. 65 3.3.2 State institutions and trans-regional communities: the role of organizations ........ 68 3.4 Propositions.................................................................................................................. 72 3.5 Concluding remarks: trans-regional communities, external coupling, and regional development ....................................................................................................................... 76 Chapter 4 Methodology......................................................................................................... 78 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 78 4.2 Negotiating the “field” of guanxi research................................................................ 79 4.2.1 Conducting guanxi in a guanxi study..................................................................... 79 4.2.2 Limited gatekeeping and snowballing in a guanxi-emphasized context................ 82 4.3 Stay open: reframing research in the field................................................................ 85 4.4 Data collection.............................................................................................................. 88 4.4.1 Document............................................................................................................... 89 4.4.2 Observation ............................................................................................................ 90 4.4.3 Interview ................................................................................................................ 92 4.4.4 Questionnaire ......................................................................................................... 94 4.5 Ethics and positionality............................................................................................... 96 4.6 Concluding remarks: contextualizing methods in the field..................................... 97 Chapter 5 Economic development of the Chaoshan region............................................... 99 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 99 5.2 Evolution of Chaoshan’s regional economy between 1980 and 2000 ................... 100 5.2.1 Taking