How does US-China decoupling impact businesses in third markets? Corporate responses in the semiconductor industry

Date: Thursday, 10 August 2023
Time: 17:00 – 18:00
Venue: RH102, Rutherford House, Pipitea Campus VUW(map to the venue) Register: ChinaCentre@vuw.ac.nz

Abstract

Recent discussion of deglobalization has focused on the decoupling of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from United States (US)-led global value chains (GVCs). This presentation explores how corporations in third markets are responding in the global semiconductor industry and is based on a recent article published in International Business Review. It presents evidence of the responses of US-based, Chinese, Taiwanese, European and Indian companies to the new geopolitical and institutional pressures, focusing on the two most important players occupying choke points in the industry, TSMC and ASML, located in the Netherlands and Taiwan. The analysis shows third-party manufacturers can survive, and even enhance their strategic and competitive advantages, despite political disruptions in international markets and that third-party manufacturers engage in symbolic decentralization and balancing strategies. The findings offer food for thought for New Zealand companies that are engaged with either or both the US and China markets.

About the Speaker
Dr Hongzhi Gao is Associate Professor in International Business at the School of Marketing and International Business (SMIB), Victoria University of Wellington. Dr Gao received his MCom (Masters of Commerce) in Marketing with distinction in 2004 and PhD in Marketing in 2009 from Otago University. He was Senior Lecturer in International Business at SMIB 2009-2018, and Research Fellow and Lecturer at the Marketing Department of Otago University 2008-2009. Before coming to New Zealand, Dr Gao was as a senior analyst on foreign loans and risk management for the Jilin Provincial Government in China. He was responsible for a number of international projects funded by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and governments of different countries. Dr Gao received a New Zealand Postgraduate Study Abroad Award in 2005 and the Early Career Researcher award from the Marketing Department of Otago University in 2007. He was the recipient of the Emerging Researcher Grant from the Asia New Zealand Foundation in 2008 and the recipient of the Peking University New Zealand Centre Visiting Fellowship in 2014.
Register: ChinaCentre@vuw.ac.nz