Local enterprises in the global economy : issues of governance and upgrading This book opens a fresh chapter in the debate on local enterprise clusters and their strategies for upgrading in the global economy. The authors employ a novel conceptual framework in their research on industrial clusters in Europe Latin America and Asia and provide new perspectives and insights for researchers and policymakers alike 1. Globalized localities : introduction 2. Regions in the world economic triangle 3. Making sense of global standards 4. Governance in global value chains 5. The underground revolution in the Sinos Valley : a comparison of upgrading in global and national value chains 6. How globalization affects Italian industrial districts : the case of Brenta 7. Upgrading in the tile industry of Italy Spain and brazil : insights from cluster and value chain analysis 8. Local upgrading strategies in response to global challenges : the surgical instrument cluster of Tuttlingen Germany 9. Clustering and upgrading in global value chains : the Taiwanese personal computer industry 10. Global quality standards and technological upgrading in the Brazilian auto components industry 11. The effect of global standards on local producers : a Pakistani case study 12. Paradoxes and ironies of locational policy in the new global economy 13. Chain governance and upgrading : taking stock