The semi-periphery in the global production networks of labour-intensive industries: the East Central European textile and clothing industry in the mirror of foreign trade data

Molnár, Ernő (2017) The semi-periphery in the global production networks of labour-intensive industries: the East Central European textile and clothing industry in the mirror of foreign trade data. Folia Geographica, 59 (2). pp. 18-34. ISSN 1336-6157

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Abstract

This article examines the different ways of integration of East Central Europe into the global production networks of the labour-intensive textile and clothing industry based on a comparative analysis of sector-specific foreign trade data. The strongly internationalised character of the industry as well as the sectoral statistics available in a  homogenous structure make the used database an adequate tool for the identification of the most important structural changes and the development paths of the larger textile and clothing exporters, which can be well compared in the busy one and a half decade after the turn of the Millennium. By mapping and explaining the main restructuring tendencies, this short writing offers a base for the evaluation of the most perspective segments within the declining industry and tries to answer the question whether there are any forms or chances for the preservation of this traditional industrial culture. The results of the research suggest that East Central Europe can be regarded less and less as a cost-efficient production location of the textile and clothing industry supplying the wealthy Western European markets. The product structure and spatial relations of the East Central European textile and apparel trade are determined to a growing extent by local actors of the clothing market building their own brands and production networks as well as by producers and consumers of technical and other special textile products.

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