Speaker
Description
Today's global economic environment is affected by a variety of shocks and crises that occur frequently and have profound impacts. These crises create various problems at both national and global levels, leading to serious economic effects on sectors. Crises have different consequences at sectoral and spatial levels. These differentiations require regions and sectors to be addressed at different scales in terms of adaptation and resilience to crises, and in this context, it can shed light on different solutions in terms of understanding how crises are experienced at the local and national levels and how their impacts are managed. In particular, some sectors seem to be affected more than other sectors in times of crisis. This is directly related to the resilience and adaptation strategies that sectors develop against shocks. In order to minimize the effects of crises and ensure sustainable regional development, targeted strategies, spatial framing, planning, and policy measures need to be developed, taking into account the specific conditions and needs of regions and sectors. The main objective of the study is to investigate the resilience of the textile industry in Denizli to the economic crisis since 2000 at the local level, to determine the vulnerabilities of the textile region, and to explore the possible factors and strategies to recover from crises at the local and national level. Based on field study findings (face-to-face survey results with 118 textile companies in Denizli), which was defined as the Anatolian Tiger of a period, mixed research by both using quantitative (cross-tabulations, correlation, and regression models) and qualitative research techniques (discourses generated from open-ended questions)) is employed. In the analysis, it was determined that 36 of the 118 interviewed companies operate in residential areas, 63 of them are located in industrial zones and 19 of them operate in Organized Industrial Zones. This distribution provides an important context for understanding the effects of firms' location choices in times of crisis, explaining firm characteristics, and assessing the governance and level of cooperation between firms and other related bodies related to the sector. In the light of the indicators identified from the literature review, the variables that the sector is vulnerable to were identified and the findings revealed that the majority of the interviewed firms have insufficient awareness of technology development activities, research and development (R&D) activities, qualified workforce employment, environmental steps (green transformation activities), renewable energy use and sustainability policies. These deficiencies cause firms to be more negatively affected during crisis periods and limit their capacity to cope with various types of crises. The analysis also revealed the positive influence of governance strategies and spatial framing such as location choice by taking place in specialized planning zones on crisis resilience. Firstly, firms’ governance choice has a strong association with firms' adaptive capacities to the crisis, firms’ locational choice in an organized industry district, firms’ innovation capacity, and green transformation activities. Secondly, firms' location choice in a specialized industry cluster significantly impacts the awareness and implementation of sustainability strategies, which in turn plays an important role in resilience to crises. These findings call for a comprehensive set of strategic policy and planning recommendations for the resilience of firms and regions in times of crisis. The study concludes with policy and planning recommendations to reduce firms' vulnerability to potential crises.
References
Martin, R. (2012, January). Regional Economic Resilience, Hysteresis and Recessionary Shocks. Journal of Economic Geography, s. 1-32.
Eraydın, A. (2002). YENİ SANAYİ ODAKLARI: Yerel Kalkınmanın Yeniden Kavramlaştırılması. Ankara.
Eraydın, A. (2004). BÖLGESEL KALKINMA KAVRAM, KURAM VE POLİTİKALARINDA YAŞANAN DEĞİŞİMLER.
ERAYDIN, A. (2013). Bölgesel ekonomik uyum kapasitesi: Türkiye’deki bölgelerin ekonomik krizler ve sonrasındaki başarımlarını belirleyen etkenler. ANKARA: ODTÜ GELİŞME DERGİSİ.
Penpecioğlu, M. (2009) Yeni Bölgeselcilik ve Denizli: Yerel Endüstriyel Gelişimi ve Dönüşümü Yeniden Düşünmek, Praksis, Sayı 21, 135-154.
| Keywords | Governance, resilience, textile industry, spatial framing |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
