November 2021 – March 2022: University of Kiel, Germany Economic Geography and Sustainability, M.Sc. Sustainability, Society, and the Environment

1. Lecture 1 - Introduction: economic geography and its recent paradigms
Economic
Geography
and
Sustainability
WS 2021-20220
Lecture 5 – 24.11.2021

2. Fifth lecture of this WS 2021-22
Direct link literature
• 27-10: Introduction
• 03-11: Making progress towards the SDGs through the lens of
evolutionary economic geography (EEG)
• 10-11: Governance of sustainability transitions
• 17-11: Global production networks, slow innovation and
geographies of circular economy and EU Green Deal
• 24-11: Corporate social responsibility vs. corporate spatial
responsibility and Greenwashing effect
• 01-12: Mission-oriented innovation policies and sustainable
economic geography (e.g., degrowth; EU Green Deal)

3. • A recap of last week’s lecture
> Slow Innovation
> Circular economy
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Corporate Spatial Responsibility
• Greenwashing effect
• Debate
In today’s lecture
:::10 minutes Break:::

4. A recap of last week’s lecture
Fast “everything”
Linear economy

5. Slow Innovation & Circular Economy
Social,
economic and
environmental
sustainability
Classic
economic
development
models

6. Disrupting established economic regimes
Slow Innovation (SI) Circular Economy
Innovation also occurs at the periphery,
small- medium-size towns > non-urban
Challenges theories of > geography of
innovation i.e., proximities that enable
information and knowledge exchange;
Slow City complementing or replacing
Creative & Smart City (urban-based
innovation);
Reliance on local knowledge, local
resources not on responding to market;
Large-cities as protagonists overshadow
innovation process and their genesis;
Knowledge leads to innovations on
long-lasting products and services;
Emphasize endogenous factors and
local distinctiveness;
Rebranded approach on the
relationship society – nature – society
Reaction to unsustainable practices of
Linear Economy (LE) i.e., the “take,
make, and dispose” economy.
Its definition basically depends on who
is defining it (EU; NGOs etc)
Goal = waste becomes a resource
Essence = production and consumption
model which involves reusing,
repairing, refurbishing and recycling
Further research = sustain the concept
Business = integrated CE principles in
business models (circular business models)

7. Circular business models (De Angelis 2018)
• Leasing or renting instead of purchasing
• Combining products and services
• Sharing, car, home sharing, working spaces
• Products are collected back at the end of their
useful life by a service provider and are then 4R:
recycling/ refurbishing/remanufacturing/reusing
• Products designed to last longer – linkage to slow
innovation – “places that also matter”
• Circular supply chain – using recycled products as
inputs to production > corporate responsibility
• Collaborative consumption - platforms enabling
access to second-hand products, swopping and
borrowing products
• Customer-centred decision making - consumers
vote on the product to manufacture

8. The town of Vierzon in the Centre-Val-de-Loire
region in France is a medium-sized old
industrial town in a structural crisis caused by
deindustrialisation starting in the 1970s

9. Explore the creation and growth of Ledger – a frontier blockchain start-up that designs,
produces and commercialises hardware wallets for cryptocurrencies – against all odds in
Vierzon, France. It underlines the role of a Window of Locational Opportunity, agency, chance,
the broader institutional context in the location of Ledger in an unlikely place.
1. Emergence of an innovative technology – Ledger, blockchain and cryptocurrencies;
2. Benefited from generic resources such as cheap office spaces and access to broadband;
3. Agency and structure mediated chance and serendipity

10. + Capture public funding
+ Institutional support
+ local policymakers in SMSTs to
take the initiative in identifying
agents of change
+ seizing brief windows of
opportunity and breaking out of
existing paths

11. Traditional know-how on textile >
technical textile
Application of the principles of slow
innovation

12. https://www.ertgrupo.com/en/
Tradition and local knowledge
Innovation, lasting long, high quality outputs
Application of the principles of slow
innovation

13. https://www.lavoroeurope.com/
Application of the principles of slow
innovation

14. Chain coordination, contracting,
and financial mechanisms were
identified as key organizational
elements for creating new
pathways to transition into circular
materials flows.
Circular economy > examples

15. Prime question > Affluence-based…
How can such concepts and approaches become an alternative?
Source
Source

16. In a context of global completion
discourses
Country Brand Rankings >
economic performance
About moving “fast”…

17. Biggest fall in FDI: threat or opportunity?
• Invest in endogenous development > slow innovation and
circular economy concepts could strengthen
• Offers the prospects of several different alternative futures.
(Wells et al. 2020)
Scenario Landscape Regime Niche
Ecological
burdens

18. Eco. Geo. & Sustainability
The global coffee industry provides an interesting
empirical case to study sustainability in global chains:
Over the past twenty years, more than thirty corporate
and multi-stakeholder sustainability standards have
been developed, including:
International agreements
• Fairtrade
• Rainforest Alliance
• Utz Certified
Corporate Social Responsibility
• Common Code for the Coffee Community.
(Manning et al 2012)
(Kolk, 2005)
Sustainability
standards

19. Comparison of coffee sustainability
standards
(Ponte, 2020; Manning et al 2012)
Critique

20. Social justice
Source 2020
Source 2020

21. Environmental justice
Source 2020
Cargill > provider
Walmart > distribution
IKEA > production distribution
McDonalds > production distribution

22. Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) > Nestlé and Unilever
were found to be the top sources of plastic pollution in waste in the
Philippines.
Greenpeace 2019
Environmental justice

23. International production configurations are being shaped
(1) ‘Regional’ shoring > will lead to shorter, less fragmented value chains and a
higher geographical concentration of value added.
(2) Diversification > will lead to a wider distribution of economic activities. It will
primarily affect services and GVC-intensive manufacturing industries. This trajectory
will increase opportunities for new economies and firms to participate in GVCs.
(3) Regionalization will reduce the physical length of supply chains. Regional
economic cooperation, industrial policy and investment promotion will become
indispensable to build regional value chains instead of global.
(4) Replication will lead to shorter value chains. It will lead to more geographically
distributed activities, but more concentrated value added.
Global Investment
Report 2020
Efforts within Global
supply chains
Research gaps in terms of Slow and Circular movements

24. Global supply chains >
Corporate social and spatial responsibility
(Lund-Thomsen and Nadvi 2010)
Companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their
business operations and interactions along their > production network

25. Corporate Responsibility >
geographical approach
Geographers often assume a critical perspective, for example, to the
attention to local specificities as they can provide important insights on the
relation between business objectives and pressing social and
environmental concerns.
Geographers are focused on how they affect local economic development
trajectories and ecosystems, and on the distribution of risks, responsibility,
and power within the global economy rather than how successfully
corporations manage stakeholder expectations
Take-home message
Key consideration
A key debate in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature is the
tension between global pressures and local responses
(Hamilton, 2011)

26. Corporate Social
Responsibility
Corporate Spatial or
Regional Responsibility
Corporate Responsibility > geographical approach
> Corporate Spatial Responsibility
Clark et al 2018 Knieling et al 2012
Enterprises and business associations
increasingly influence spatial
development policies > strategic
spatial planning (for example)
Strategic entrepreneurial decisions
encompassing urban or city-regional
contexts as well as issues not linked to
a corporate’s business
Spatial involvement of enterprises /
firms in local or regional contexts
Enterprises only pursue social and
spatial approaches, if those are not
contradicting corporate goals
Involves a greater integration of
responsibility towards workers,
customers, communities, and natural
environments into core business
Strict compliance with labour and
environmental codes of practice
As a response to anti-corporate
campaigning and critical journalism >
introduce corporate responsibility
programs, which address the impacts
of their business on social groups and
the environment

27. But first the non-geographical approach
Corporate Social Responsibility > Business approach
Also known as:
• Corporate Citizenship
• Corporate Responsibility
• Responsible Business
Business advantages:
• Human Resources > Recruitment, retention and morale of Employees
• Risk Management > Investment in ‘ethical brand equity’
• Brand Differentiation > Build brand loyalty
• > Reputation and brand attractiveness
‘Greenwashing’ effect
Take-home message >
critique
(Lyon and Montgomery, 2013).

28. Corporate Social Responsibility > Business approach
Example > Community focused
2018 corporate responsibility report
“We are making intentional, strategic
investments to lift those who are
being left behind. We are measuring
our returns according to how we
improve individual lives within
communities.”
Bank and financial services holding company
headquartered in New York City
“creating a lasting
impact in our
communities.”

29. Corporate Social Responsibility > Business approach
Example > Environmentally focused
Source 2020
• Energy conservation/climate change —
reduce the overall carbon footprint of our
business operations by 15% by 2020, as
compared to 2007 baseline.
• Sustainable packaging/recycling — reduce
the impact of our packaging; maximize our
use of renewable, reusable, and recyclable
resources to recover the equivalent of 100
percent of our packaging.
• Water stewardship — establish a water
sustainable operation in which we
minimize our water use and have water
neutral impact on the local communities in
which we operate. We’ll safely return the
amount of water equivalent to that used in
our beverages and their production to
these communities and their environment.
• Product portfolio/wellbeing — provide
refreshing beverages for every lifestyle
and occasion, while helping consumers
make informed beverage choices.
• Diverse and inclusive culture — create a
culture where diversity is valued, every
employee is respected, and our
workforce reflects the communities in
which we operate.

30. Corporate Social Responsibility > Business approach
Example > Customer Focused
Source; Forbes 2020
Elevates Sustainability And
Impact To Drive Growth
• “Leveraging business for the
greater good”
• 10% reduction in CO2
emissions since last year and a
$1 billion COVID-19 relief
investment for employees
• We’re reducing the use of
plastic and things that last for
thousands of years in landfills.
We're not going to take our
foot off the accelerator as far
as driving sustainability and
responsibility.

31. Corporate Social Responsibility > Business approach
Example > Socially Focused
American pharmaceutical
company, headquartered NYC
Source
• We embrace a diverse workforce and inclusive culture. The health, safety, professional
development, work-life balance and equitable, respectful treatment of our employees are
among our highest priorities.
• We promote conscientious citizenship that improves health and promotes sustainability in
our communities.
• We promote conscientious citizenship that improves health and promotes sustainability in
our communities.

32. Corporate Responsibility >
geographical approach
‘Greenwashing’ effect > learn more? > Furlow 2010; Delmas et al 2011
Greenwashing is the dissemination of false or incomplete information by
an organization to present an environmentally responsible public image.
Corporations can unethically trick you into thinking their products are
environmentally friendly. They do this because going green or zero waste is
“trendy” and they want your money.
Not to be confused with green marketing, greenwashing is when products
give a false impression of being eco-friendly when they are not.
A growing number of consumers say they’re willing
to pay more for products with a sustainability message.
When something sounds better for the environment than
what it is, is called greenwashing

33. Source
Corporations accused of not being as environmentally
friendly as marketed
There’s nothing clean about
diesel engines that spew
pollutants at levels way over
the legal limit.
Volkswagen/BMW/Ford/
Mercedes-Benz (‘clean diesel’)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oetgAZaUFVk
Meat alternative brand Quorn Foods
claims in the YouTube video above
that its Thai Wonder Grains “lunch
pot” is a step in the right direction
to addressing climate change
because it “helps us reduce our
carbon footprint.”
Quorn Foods (carbon footprint claims)

34. Corporations accused of not being as environmentally
friendly as marketed
Nestle (‘sustainably sourced
cocoa beans’)
2019 class-action lawsuit against
Nestle alleges the food giant’s
“sustainably sourced cocoa
beans” are nothing of the sort.
Not when production of the key
ingredient in the company’s
chocolate products — including
its Butterfinger and Baby Ruth
bars, Nesquik chocolate milk, Toll
House chocolate chips and hot
cocoa mix — is helping drive
massive deforestation in West
Africa. The suit also claims the
cocoa comes from farms that use
child and slave labor, which
Nestle (sort of) responds to here.
Source

35. Banned for greenwashing > several examples
• For using outdated information to
claim it was the UK’s lowest
emission airline.
• The company claimed that the car was
“zero emissions”, but this was
disputed on the grounds that it came
with the option of a small petrol
engine to maintain its charge and also
that it seemed to claim that by buying
the car, customers would be “giving
back” to the environment.
(Source 2020)

36. Geographers have succeeded in putting corporate responsibility in its place – by
examining the interplay of different scales of activity and the appropriate
balance between market mechanisms and other means of achieving local
economic development, environmental protection, and other goals – there are
spaces of negotiation and capacity-building that deserve more attention.
(Hamilton, 2011; Jussila et al 2007)
Take-home message
Key consideration
Research gaps >
Corporate Spatial or Regional Responsibility
Regional responsibility means
the utilization of the region’s
resources and advocacy of
local interests.
Aligns with concepts
• Slow Innovation
• Circular economy
• Addressing ST challenges
• Territorial governance
• Mission oriented innovation

37. Corporate Spatial or Regional Responsibility
Take-home definition
Regional responsibility may be defined in terms of firms’ active
participation in regional strategy processes, and local and regional
economic development (L&RED) (cf. Carroll, 1979).
A firm may be able to gain access to critical regional resources, such as
knowledge of the operational environment, customer loyalty and
(business) locations (Wernefelt, 1984; Hart, 1995) and, at the same time,
secure its future position and source of competitive advantage (Hamel
and Prahalad, 1994).
The relationship between firms and their regions is reciprocal not only in
terms of economic exchange; firms derive some of their characteristics
from and directly influence the characteristics of specific regions or
small- medium-size towns. (Hamilton, 2011; Jussila et al 2007)

38. Corporate Spatial Responsibility >
Corporate Spatial Strategy
Privatization of urban and regional development:
Social benefit or realization of Corporate goals?
Ecological and social concerns are voluntarily integrated into the
company's activities – Indeed this is corporate social responsibility
and so not a substitute for legal, stipulated regulations, but more
about self-commitment from corporate to address > spatially-based
societal challenges.
Corporate Spatial Responsibility > The term "spatial" means a
(voluntary) spatial commitment for a location or a region.
(Knieling, Othengrafen and Preising, 2012; Schiek, 2017)

39. Social Responsibility Spatial Responsibility
Summary before examples
Clark et al 2018 Knieling et al 2012
Enterprises and business associations
increasingly influence spatial
development policies or strategies
✓ Infrastructures
✓ Social housing
✓ Place-making interventions
Strategic entrepreneurial decisions
are not only focused on issues which
are directly related to the enterprise’s
divisions but encompassing urban or
city-regional contexts
Yet, there is a lack of empirical studies
underlining approaches
Few examples in Germany and
Nordic countries
Voluntary integration of responsibility
towards
✓ Employees,
✓ Customers,
✓ Nature > into core business of firms
To “please” shareholders, possible
investors and costumers
> Greenwashing effect
Sustainability standards aiming at
turning global supply chains towards
community-focused and reduce their
environmental footprint
✓ Coffee
✓ Beef > forest clearance
✓ Soybeans, crops

40. Corporate Spatial Responsibility >
Initiative Ruhr GmbH
Corporate Spatial or Regional Responsibility > The term "spatial" means a
spatial commitment > voluntary > towards a city or a region.
Initiative Ruhr GmbH (DE)
✓ Pursuing the goal of structural change in
the Ruhr for over 25 years
✓ Involves +67 organizations
✓ Focused on
✓ Energy
✓ Logistics
✓ Education
✓ Culture
✓ Projects that are often aimed at citizens
or the promotion of the regional
economy > environmental dimension
✓ Enterprises involved > make a voluntary
financial contribution to the overall
plans of the Initiative
InnovationCity Ruhr
Ruhr Piano Festival
The Ruhr cities are, from west to
east: Duisburg, Oberhausen, Bottrop, Mülheim an der
Ruhr, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum, Herne, Hagen,
Dortmund, Lünen, Bergkamen, Hamm and the districts
of Wesel, Recklinghausen, Unna and Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis.
The most populous cities are Dortmund, Essen and
Duisburg
(Schiek 2016)

41. Corporate Spatial Responsibility >
Die Wirtschaftsinitiative Frankfurt Rhein Main
Focused in attracting investment (and workforce) +++ valuing local
resources and assets
Wirtschaftsinitiative FrankfurtRheinMain (DE)
✓ Corporate Spatial Responsibility
cooperative that sees itself as a ‘lobby
association for the metropolitan
region FRM’, which aims to create an
attractive economic area to shape
the conditions for the residents and
companies
✓ Boost regional identity a sense of
belonging to the region
✓ More passive role if compared to
Ruhr Initiative >
✓ Firms/companies participate
mainly by paying membership
fees
(Schiek 2016)

42. Corporate Spatial Responsibility (CSR) >
Conclusions
Take-home message
Key consideration
From an economic geographic point of view CSR is seen as a strategic
investment in a territory e.g., region; metropolitan area > generating
repercussions in terms of regional competitiveness and quality of life.
Private entities, firms, corporations often associated in networks or
cooperatives take responsibility for urban and regional development
and how a region or metropolitan area will develop in future
Investment
attraction
Infrastructure
improvement
Respect
standards;
SDGs

43. Literature
OLAT

44. Essay:
> Adopt a geographical perspective;
> Should not be too broad, ideally have a place-based focus
> Narrow defined idea
Possible research questions
Corporate Social Responsibility in the context of global
production: comparing global and place-based business models?
Embedding small- medium-size companies in global supply
chains: essential condition for successfully implementing
sustainability principles?
Global standards versus local realities: why suppliers in
regions/countries differ in their capabilities in implementing
social-oriented or environmental-focused principles?

45. Next week > 01-12: Mission-oriented innovation
policies and sustainable economic geography (e.g.,
degrowth; EU Green Deal)

46. Lecture 1 - Introduction: economic geography and its recent paradigms
Examples on
slow innovation or
global supply chains

47. • Describes the activities involved in the production of a
good or service – including supply, distribution, and
post-sales activities i.e., supply chain – implying
coordination across geographies (Gereffi et al. 2005).
Global value chains
From Idea To sales of a product
> global

48. The governance of global value chains
Take-home message
(Gereffi et al. 2005)
Global value chain research and policy work examine the
different ways in which global production and distribution
systems are integrated, and the possibilities for firms in
developing countries to enhance their position in global markets.
Key consideration
Globalization has resulted in an extensive distribution of global
production, which requires more intensive organization of ties
among firms or > within global production networks:
• Industrial governance
• Inter-firm governance
• Value chain governance (Nadvi 2008)

49. Source
R&D Sales of product
Global Suppliers in
31 locations
Supply
Chain
Example: Global value chains

50. Critical
• Select certain geographies because they
have less regulations/not so strict
• Availability-Cost relation of Labour
• Availability-Cost of resources (land;
energy)
Example: Global value chains

51. Large firm >
Power to steer
production process
Producer
Branded Goods
Company
Retail Company
Wholesale
Wholesale
Retail
Producer
Producer
Producer
Buyer
Abroad
Power Relations
(management,
control)
Flow of Goods
Producer-focused value chains
Buyer-focused operations as a supply chain strategy
Subcontractor
Part Supplier
Braun and Schulz 2012, 211
The Global Supply Chain > Dynamics
Producers depend
on lead firms with
direct access to
consumers

52. Global value chains > Sustainability

53. Global value chains > Sustainability
The concept of global value chain (GVC) emphasizes the global scale and
structure of many commodity chains as a result of the internationalization of
production (Gereffi, 1994, Gereffi et al., 2005).
Largest
producers

54. Global Production Networks
OLAT direct
Neil m. Coe
and
Henry Wai-Chung Yeung
An organizational arrangement, comprising
interconnected economic and non-economic
actors, coordinated by a global firm, involving
producing of goods or services across multiple
geographical locations for worldwide markets.
Must have three or more roles performed by
different and independent firms such as a lead
firm and its strategic partners (strategic
alliances) or external suppliers and customers.
Take-home message
Key consideration

55. Differences between Global Value Chain and
Global Production Networks
Global Production Networks emerged as a geographical
critique of the Global Value Chain literature.
> Adopts a network approach – interconnectedness
firms/entrepreneurs
> Complex intra-, inter- and extra-firm networks
> Incorporates a wide range of non-firm organisations
> Importance of institutional context – in terms of
rules/regulations, but also business cultures
> Multi-scalar > various locals/regional make the global
Concerned with the territorial development impacts of
network formations
(Coe and Wai-chung Yeung 2015)
Key consideration

56. Theoretical antecedents to the GPN approach
(Coe, 2009)
Value Chains Global Production
Networks
Global Production Networks 1.0
(Coe and Wai-chung Yeung 2015)

57. Value of
local-based assets
Global Production Networks >
Strategic coupling and territorial development
(Coe and Wai-chung Yeung 2015)
Cooperation
Territorial
development
Input of multiple voices > +
positive for SD and support
Sustainability Transitions

58. When complementary effect exists between regions and global production networks
(multinational corporations), a developmental process of strategic coupling will take place
through which the advantages of regions interact positively with the strategic needs of actors in
these global production networks.
Key regional assets include the presence of prestigious research universities, the availability
of pools of skilled labour and an attractive residential environment for creative workers

59. Global Production Networks 1.0 >
Critique
1. Unclear origins of Global Production Networks >
conceptual weakness.
2. Not explanatory and causal enough (lack of
framework vs. theory).
3. Failure to theorize competitive dynamics and
evolutionary processes in multi-commodity or
multi-industry production networks.
Global Production Networks 2.0
Coe and Wai-chung Yeung 2015

60. Global Production Networks 2.0 >
Sustainability > page 47 and GPN 2.0
Extra-firm actors in a global production network
Coe and Wai-chung Yeung 2015