Apologies for reposting. Please note that abstracts are due on October 13, 2013. Thanks. Vida -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CALL FOR PAPERS Redistributed Manufacturing and the Emergence of New Economic Geographies: Innovation, Energy Costs, Sustainability, Reshoring and Digital Fabrication Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting (Tampa, Florida, April 8 - 12, 2014) Organizers: John R. Bryson (University of Birmingham, UK) and Vida Vanchan (SUNY Buffalo State, US) Manufacturing is changing as new technologies shape the geographies of production. Digital fabrication and especially 3D printing or rapid prototyping is leading to a new spatial division of labor. Home based small-scale craft based manufacturing is becoming possible. Labor costs have been rising in Asia whilst manufacturing firms located in developed market economies have been making productivity improvement. For some firms, labor costs have become a minor input. Energy costs have been escalating leading to difficulties for firms located in places with relatively high energy costs. Energy volatility and rising costs have also increased transportation costs. The US is experiencing a renaissance in manufacturing that is driven by low energy costs. Fracking for shale gas and oil has transformed the US into a major energy producer; and this is leading to a reshoring of manufacturing production from locations with low labor costs. Transportation costs combined with energy costs has meant that for some products manufacturing can now be profitability undertaken in relatively high labor cost locations. Technological developments and new geographies of energy supply can be combined with sustainability as some companies try to reduce their carbon footprints. Some of the barriers to entry for establishing a small manufacturing firm have also been reduced. Inexpensive equipment is now available for small-scale production. These developments are stimulating a shift towards the localization of manufacturing closer to key markets combined with the emergence of smaller-scale local manufacturing. This session invites contributions that critically engage in understanding the emergence of new forms of local manufacturing. It seeks to bring together papers that explore firms, sectors or regions or some of the drivers behind the emergence of new forms of re-distributed manufacturing. Papers that explore global production networks are welcome, but must focus on the local aspects of production. Papers may examine topics including, but are not restricted to: * Papers that explore the emergence of smaller-scale local manufacturing. * Studies that focus on understanding digital fabrication (for example, 3D printing) and its impact on manufacturing. * Research that focus on digital fabrication as an economic development tool. * Studies that focus on energy costs and manufacturing. * Research into the reshoring of manufacturing. * Studies of sustainability and manufacturing. * Studies of the local aspects of Global Production Networks. * Strategies and policies in attracting and retaining manufacturing in developed market economies. * Approaches to rebalancing national economies. Anyone interested in participating in the session should send an abstract conforming to the requirements of the AAG (see http://www.aag.org/cs/annualmeeting/call_for_papers/abstract_guidelines) by October 16, 2013 to John Bryson ([email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>) and Vida Vanchan ([email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>) Vida Vanchan, Ph.D. Associate Professor Center for Southeast Asia Environment and Sustainable Development Department of Geography and Planning State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo State 1300 Elmwood Ave. Buffalo, NY 14222 USA Tel: 716-878-5209 E-mail: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
CFPAAG2014_RedistributedManufacturingNewEconGeo.pdf
Description: CFPAAG2014_RedistributedManufacturingNewEconGeo.pdf
