Industrial agglomeration of Hong Kong and Taiwanese manufacturing investment in China: a town-level analysis in Dongguan

摘要

Dongguan, an emerging world-famous manufacturing metropolis in South China has attracted considerable attention of both academic and policy research over the past two decades. Industrial clusters driven by the influx of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Dongguan have been primarily based on qualitative analysis, while without any differentiations of the sources of FDI. Based on the firm-level statistical data and on-site investigation, this study attempts to explore quantitatively and comparatively the extent and patterns of industrial agglomerations of Hong Kong and Taiwan manufacturing investment in Dongguan. Through comprehensive town-level quantitative analysis, the paper exemplifies that Hong Kong and Taiwan manufacturing agglomerations in various towns of Dongguan that have evolved in different sectoral and spatial patterns. Being consistent with the earlier qualitative analysis, the distinctive trajectories could be interpreted by the different firm linkages and comparative advantages of Hong Kong and Taiwan as source regions, as well as the distinct interactions with Dongguan as host region in the context of global economy.