Regional development through simultaneous strategic coupling: the uneven formation and matching of regional assets with global production networks
研究同一区域内与多个全球生产网络同时耦合如何影响区域发展，基于广东十年案例，提出新框架解释区域内部不均衡发展。
Abstract This article argues for a more incisive understanding of regional development through examining and explaining the effects of simultaneous strategic coupling. Circumventing firm-centric approaches that underplay dynamic intra-regional asset formation and matching with global production networks (GPNs), this article spotlights how simultaneous coupling with multiple GPNs within the same region is constituted by and generates new interactive effects between preexisting industrial paths in the region and GPNs. Drawing evidence from a decade-long case study of endogenous asset reconfiguration to embed GPNs in Guangdong, China, this article presents a new framework for examining how simultaneous strategic coupling contributes to regional development. Premised on an evolutionary approach that incorporates the constitutive effects of intra-regional path co-evolution, this framework advances GPN research by highlighting how uneven development within a subnational region is not only shaped by lead firm power but is also actively re-defined by regional actors embedded within different industrial paths.