Usual apologies for cross-posting!
SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS: PLS NOTE DEADLINE OF OCTOBER 16TH FOR ABSTRACTS!
Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Washington DC,
14-18th April 2010
'Researching retail globalization: a new phase?'
Organisers: Neil Coe (University of Manchester) and Neil Wrigley
(University of Southampton)
In response to the surge in retail foreign direct investment since the
mid-1990s and the rise of a small group of retail transnational
corporations (TNCs) responsible for the majority of that FDI, research
into retail globalization and its impacts on developing countries has
now become a rich and vibrant multi-disciplinary endeavour. While the
study of retail globalization has been a clearly defined area of study
within business and management sciences for some twenty years, the
last decade has seen a strong surge of research into the subject from
scholars in economic geography alongside important work in development
studies and agricultural economics, but also economics, sociology,
cultural studies, policy studies and others. This has taken the field
well beyond the confines of its original relatively narrow focus on
retailer strategies and the international expansion of store networks
to encompass work on the wider impacts of retail FDI, in particular
the supply-chain, regulatory, knowledge-transfer, consumption and
labour-market dimensions of retail globalization.
This session aims to explore whether retail globalization has now
entered a new phase. While the late 1990s and early 2000s were
characterised by multiple market entries across East Asia, East
Central Europe and Latin America on the part of leading retail TNCs,
the last few years have arguably seen a slowing of this process in
favour of market expansion within existing markets. Put another way,
while the share of foreign sales continues to increase for leading
retailers, the number of markets generating that revenue may be
static, or even decreasing, as retailers have left markets in which
they have not been able to secure a leading position. In research
terms, this suggests the need to supplement studies of retail FDI and
market entry processes with explorations of the in-market growth
strategies pursued by leading retail TNCs. Given the
nationally-specific nature of retail cultures and regulatory
practices, such expansion is likely to require highly
spatially-variegated and responsive strategies. Moreover, given that a
decade has elapsed since many market entries in the late 1990s, the
time is ripe for studies that look at the supply chain, consumption,
labour market and regulatory impacts of retail FDI in dynamic,
longitudinal terms.
Papers could examine topics including but not limited to:
- Retail FDI trends and trajectories;
- Competitive shakeouts among retail TNCs in host markets;
- Post-entry growth strategies of retail TNCs;
- Strategies of retail TNCs to develop the supply base in host markets;
- Interactions between national, regional and global sourcing
structures of retails TNCs;
- Impacts of retail TNCs on consumption practices in host markets;
- Regulatory responses to expansion of retail TNCs in host markets;
- Interactions between the globalization of store and sourcing
networks by retail TNCs;
- Ongoing process of innovation and knowledge transfer in retail TNCs;
- Attempts to penetrate new markets with high growth potential (e.g.
India, Russia);
- New types of market entry by retail TNCs;
- Cross-sectoral comparisons of retail TNCs (e.g. food vs clothing);
- CSR, environmental and ethical initiatives in host markets.
Anyone interested in participating in the session should send an
abstract conforming to the requirements of the AAG (see
http://www.aag.org/annualmeetings/2010/papers.htm#abstracts) to Neil
Coe ([log in to unmask]) and Neil Wrigley
([log in to unmask]) by Friday 16th October 2009.
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