PhD Defence: Mads Martinus Hauge

Strategic Coupling Based on Natural Resources - Globalized Development of the Mekong River Delta Region

Supervisor
Professor Niels Fold, IGN 

Assessment Committee
Associate Professor Høgni Kalsø Hansen (chairman), IGN
Professor Philip Kelly, York University, Canada
Associate Professor Peter Wad, CBS

After the PhD defence there will be a reception in class room 11, Øster Voldgade 10, Area 6, First floor – and everybody is welcome.

Summary
The topic of this thesis is the resourced-based industrialization of the Mekong River Delta (MRD) Region of Vietnam. It shows how a region is linked with the world market and how settlements and living conditions are being transformed as part of a globalized regional development.

A modular theory-building approach rooted in the Global Production Network (GPN) framework constitutes the analytical approach to the thesis, providing pertinent conceptualizations to explore and discuss how a globalized regional development unfolds. The main theoretical concept of the thesis is that of strategic coupling, an established concept within the GPN framework that explores and explains how local assets are molded to complement the needs of the global market. However, existing applications of the notion of strategic coupling do not cover the situation in which a resource-based economy is coupled with the world market, nor does it take into account the implications of a strategic coupling beyond relations between firms and regional institutions. It is imperative that the transformations of local spaces, resources and actors are examined and brought to light to gain an understanding of the possibilities and challenges that derive from such a resource-based strategic coupling.

The thesis explores the nature and implications of the resource-based industrialization of the MRD Region through three entry points. The first explores the path of the industrialization and the role of natural resources in this process. This entry point is guided by the question, (1) How has the resource-based strategic coupling in the Mekong River Delta Region emerged and evolved? The second entry point explores the perspective of workers and labor agency through the question, (2) How is the first generation of workers in the Mekong River Delta Region seeking to exploit the opportunities deriving from industrialization, and what challenges are they encountering? The third entry point examines the transformations of settlements, livelihoods and living conditions through the question, (3) How are rural spaces reshaped as global influences are mediated and negotiated in the Mekong River Delta Region? The study is primarily based on fieldwork in the Can Tho Province of the MRD Region, where multiple methods and data collection techniques were applied.

Through its empirical analyses, the thesis contributes to a theoretical development of the GPN framework. Theoretical elements from other geography sub-disciplines (evolutionary economic geography, livelihoods analysis, labor geography) are combined with the core concepts of the GPN framework to address certain shortcomings of the GPN framework and to extend its reach. Specifically, the concept of strategic coupling is expanded to encompass the multi-facetted nature of regional development that is omitted from the ordinary GPN approach, with its more exclusive focus on the relationship between firms and regional institutions. 

The thesis is available from the PhD administration office 04.1.417