The structural architecture of international industry networks in the global economy

Globalisation continuously produces novel economic relationships mediated by flows of goods, services, capital, and information between countries. The activity of multinational corporations (MNCs) has become a primary driver of globalisation, shaping these relationships through vast networks of firms and their subsidiaries. Extensive empirical research has suggested that globalisation is not a singular process, and that variation in the intensity of international economic interactions can be captured by ‘multiple globalisations’, however how this differs across industry sectors has remained unclear. This paper analyses how sectoral variation in the ‘structural architecture’ of international economic relations can be understood using a combination of social network analysis (SNA) measures based on firm-subsidiary ownership linkages. Applying an approach that combines network-level measures (Density, Clustering, Degree, Assortativity) in ways yet to be explored in the spatial networks literature, a typology of four idealised international network structures is presented to allow for comparison between sectors. All sectoral networks were found to be disassortative, indicating that international networks based on intraorganisational ties are characterised by a core-periphery structure, with professional services sectors such as Banks and Insurance being the most hierarchically differentiated. Retail sector networks, including Food & Staples Retailing, are the least clustered while the two most clustered networks—Materials and Capital Goods—have also the highest average degree, evidence of their extensive globalisations. Our findings suggest that the multiple globalisations characterising international economic interactions can be better understood through the ‘structural architecture’ of sectoral variation, which result from the advantages conferred by cross-border activity within each.

Occupational welfare and segmentation: explaining across (and within) sectoral variation in Germany and Belgium

The paper uses a qualitative comparative case study design to examine across (and within) sectoral variation in occupational welfare outcomes (i.e. flexible working hours, occupational pensions and health and sickness benefits, fringe benefits complementing wages) for different groups of workers in food and chemical manufacturing in Germany and Belgium. Findings indicate that common national challenges can yield different occupational welfare outcomes across (and within) different sectors, which in turn affect workforce segmentation. The integration between local and sector-level power dynamics explains how, and the extent to which, negotiation on occupational welfare can entail segmentation.

RESOURCE NATIONALISM IN INDONESIA: OWNERSHIP STRUCTURES AND SECTORAL VARIATION IN MINING AND PALM OIL

During the global commodities boom Indonesia, like many resource-rich countries, introduced an increasing number of nationalist policy interventions. However, the state has intervened assertively in some sectors and only passively in others. In Indonesia's mining sector, interventions that compel foreign divestment received widespread support from politicians and domestic industry; yet similar proposals to limit foreign investment in the strategic agribusiness sector have largely failed. This article brings the literature on resource nationalism into conversation with studies of business–state relations, in order to understand why nationalist mobilization met with more success in Indonesia's mining sector than in agribusiness. It argues that ownership structures constitute the source of this variation. Uniquely integrated patterns of domestic and foreign ownership in the strategic palm oil sub-sector constrained lawmakers’ nationalist agenda. Such constraints were less formidable in Indonesia's mining sector, where foreign capital is more easily differentiated, and concentrated in a sub-sector that contributes less overall to the Indonesian economy.