Changes in international production relocation patterns in an uncertainty context: an analysis in the Spanish automobile components sector

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Résumé:

This article analyses relocation processes in an uncertainty context in order to determine the patterns that characterize such geographic changes in activity. Specifically, analysis of the Spanish automobile components industry during the recent global economic crisis has shown how the number of relocations was comparatively lower than in the period before that crisis. Uncertainty has a greater weighting than the advantages derived from operational flexibility when managers of multinationals have to decide whether to relocate or not. Traditionally, the main drivers of relocation in the sector are based on efficiency: the search for lower labour costs and corporate restructuring to achieve optimal utilization of production capacities. When there is uncertainty, these are conditioned by relocation costs and the risks inherent to taking on such processes