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Regional agility in the wake of crisis: Towards a new growth model in the Greater Pearl River Delta? (SPP 1233, 3. Phase)

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. J. Revilla Diez, Dr. D. Schiller (Univerity of Hannover), Prof. Dr. I. Liefner, Dr. S. Hennemann (Univerity of Giessen), Prof. Dr. F. Kraas (University of Cologne), Dr. D. Dohse, Prof. Dr. R. Soltwedel (University of Kiel)

Researcher: Prof. Dr. Javier Revilla Diez, Dr. Daniel Schiller, Dr. Wenying Fu

Duration: 2010 - 2014

Funded by: German Research Foundation (DFG); priority programme 1233 "Megacities - Megachallenge: Informal Dynamics of Global Change"

 

During the first two phases of the priority program, the research team focused on the interdependence of informality and flexible firm organization (agile firms) and on the role of informality for upgrading and innovation in the Greater Pearl River Delta (GPRD) region (regional agility). In the third phase, the team will investigate the long-term structural effects of the crisis on the drivers of growth in the PRD which have been derived and consolidated from the results of the first and the second phases.

 

The main research aims are

(i) to establish whether and how the agility of firms and of the region in general has been sustained amid the recent crisis and

(ii) to find out what kind of post-crisis structural adjustments will affect the growth determinants in the Greater Pearl River Delta.

Four determinants have been identified during the first two phases that are critical for the future success of the region, namely the enterprise sector, especially foreign and domestic private firms in the electronics industry, human capital formation, particularly university graduates, the government and the related institutional environment, and the dynamics of global trade and investment.