Proinnsias Breathnach

Globalisation, information technology and the emergence of niche transnational cities: the growth of the call centre sector in Dublin

Abstract The development of information and communications technologies (ICT) has facilitated the emergence of a complex global urban system in which many formerly lower-order cities have been carving out “niche” specialist functions serving urban fields of transnational dimension. This is illustrated in the case of Dublin, which in recent years has been transcending its traditional role as Ireland’s national metropolis through the development of a range of functions servicing mainly European markets. One such function comprises pan-European telephone call centre operations. The development and characteristics of this newly-emerging sector are described. It is argued that the growth of the sector confirms Dublin’s — and Ireland’s — dependent position in the international division of labour, and that its long-term sustainability is open to question.

Exploring the 'Celtic Tiger' Phenomenon: Causes and Consequences of Ireland'S Economic Miracle

The economy of the Republic of Ireland has experienced continuously high growth rates in the 1990s, after a period of severe difficulty in the previous decade. As a result, Ireland is now within sight of exceeding average EU living standards, a situation which would reverse Irelands traditional status as a peripheral European economy. The main purpose of this article is to examine the factors which have contributed to this apparent economic miracle, which has earned Ireland the Celtic Tiger appellation. Particular importance is attached to the role of inward investment, which has grown in quantity and changed in quality in the last decade. These changes are attributed to general developments in the locational behaviour of transnational corporations, especially the need for access to skilled workers in an increasingly high-tech age. Such workers have become readily available in Ireland due to demographic change and state investment in education. However, while foreign branch plants have been upgrading their skill levels and their range of functions, they generally lack strategic responsibilities and independent decision-making powers. Additional contributors to Irelands economic growth have been macroeconomic stabilization, EU funding, and expansion of tourism and indigenous industry. However, growth has not been shared equally, but has been accompanied by increasing social polarization between those in skilled employment and those who have unskilled jobs or no jobs at all. This polarization could threaten the system of moderate national wage agreements which has played an important role in promoting peaceful industrial relations and in holding inflation to very low levels. There has also been growing spatial polarization, with the great bulk of the recent growth being concentrated in the main cities, especially Dublin. The current growth phase is expected to continue at least for the medium-term future, but could come under pressure from the emergence of competing pools of skilled labour in other parts of Europe.

Women's employment and peripheralisation: the case of Ireland's branch plant economy

Abstract The mobilisation of reserves of unskilled women workers played a key role in the new international division of labour which emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. This is illustrated in the case of the branch plant economy which emerged in the Republic of Ireland after 1960. There has been rapid growth in female employment in the electrical engineering sector which is dominated by foreign firms. A case study of the electronics industry reveals strong gender segmentation and a heavy reliance on assembly work carried out mostly by women. High levels of trade union membership have had little impact on the inferior status of women in this industry. Dominance by foreign firms has created very limited employment opportunities for women at local level. The automation of assembly work, allied to plans to upgrade the status of branch plant activities in Ireland, will further restrict womens employment prospects.

The Drivers of Transnational Subsidiary Evolution: The Upgrading of Process R&D in the Irish Pharmaceutical Industry

Van Egeraat C. and Breathnach P. The drivers of transnational subsidiary evolution: the upgrading of process R&D in the Irish pharmaceutical industry, Regional Studies. This paper contributes to the theory of subsidiary evolution in large corporations through an examination of the driving forces behind upgrading of process research and development (R&D) activities in the Irish pharmaceutical industry. Drawing on a survey of pharmaceutical plants and interviews with transnational pharmaceutical plants, it is shown that vigorous growth is occurring in the incidence of process R&D. The paper supports the utility of a multilevel systems perspective on subsidiary evolution. The external environment, internal environment and subsidiary drivers are seen to drive upgrading in a systemic way. The primary drivers for the subsidiaries enhanced role are located in the global external environment. Van Egeraat C. and Breathnach P. 跨国分支机构演化的驱动因素：爱尔兰制药工业工艺研发的升级. 区域研究. 本文通过分析爱尔兰制药工业的工艺研发活动背后的驱动因素，对大公司分支机构的演化理论做出贡献。基于对制药厂的问卷调查以及与跨国制药厂的访谈，研究发现工艺研发活动的增长强劲。本文认为分支机构演化的多层次系统观是有用的。外部环境、内部环境以及分支机构驱动力通过一种系统的方法来推动升级活动。分支机构地位强化的主要驱动力来自全球外部环境。 跨国公司u2003分支机构演化u2003研发u2003制药工业u2003爱尔兰 Van Egeraat C. et Breathnach P. Les forces motrices de lévolution des filiales transnationales: le renforcement de la R et D de procédés dans lindustrie pharmaceutique irlandaise, Regional Studies. Cet article contribue à la théorie de lévolution des filiales des grandes sociétés à partir dun examen des forces motrices qui sont à lorigine du renforcement des activités de recherche et développement (R et D) de procédés dans lindustrie pharmaceutique irlandaise. Puisant dans une enquête des établissements pharmaceutiques et des interviews auprès des établissements pharmaceutiques transnationaux, on montre que lincidence de la R et D de procédés à tendance à saccroître vigoureusement. Larticle voit lévolution des filiales sous un jour systématique à plusieurs niveaux. On considère que le milieu externe, le milieu interne et les forces motrices des filiales pilotent le renforcement dune manière systémique. Les principales forces motrices nécessaires au rôle accru des filiales sont à trouver dans le mileu mondial externe. Sociétés transnationalesu2003Évolution des filialesu2003Recherche et Développement (Ru2009etu2009D)u2003Industrie pharmaceutiqueu2003Irlande Van Egeraat C. und Breathnach P. Die treibenden Kräfte der transnationalen subsidiären Evolution: Verbesserung der Erforschung und Entwicklung von Verfahren in der irischen Pharmabranche, Regional Studies. Dieser Artikel versteht sich als Beitrag zur Theorie der subsidiären Evolution in Großbetrieben durch eine Untersuchung der treibenden Kräfte hinter einer Verbesserung der Aktivitäten zur Erforschung und Entwicklung von Verfahren in der irischen Pharmabranche. Anhand einer Erhebung unter pharmazeutischen Betrieben und Interviews mit transnationalen pharmazeutischen Betrieben wird gezeigt, dass die Inzidenz der Verfahrenserforschung und ‐entwicklung von starkem Wachstum geprägt ist. Der Beitrag liefert Argumente für den Nutzen einer mehrschichtigen Systemperspektive der subsidiären Evolution. Die externe Umgebung, interne Umgebung und subsidiären Faktoren werden als treibende Kräfte für eine Verbesserung auf systemische Weise betrachtet. Die primären treibenden Kräfte für die verbesserte Rolle der Subsidiaritäten befinden sich in der globalen externen Umgebung. Transnationale Konzerneu2003Subsidiäre Evolutionu2003Forschung und Entwicklung (F&E)u2003Pharmaindustrieu2003Irland Van Egeraat C. y Breathnach P. Los factores de la evolución subsidiaria transnacional: mejora de la Iu2009+u2009D de procesos en la industria farmacéutica irlandesa, Regional Studies. Con este artículo contribuimos a la teoría de la evolución subsidiaria en grandes sociedades a través de un examen de los factores que impulsan mejoras en las actividades de la investigación y el desarrollo (Iu2009+u2009D) de procesos en la industria farmacéutica irlandesa. Basándonos en un estudio con plantas farmacéuticas y entrevistas con plantas farmacéuticas transnacionales, demostramos que está ocurriendo un fuerte crecimiento en la incidencia de la Iu2009+u2009D de procesos. En este artículo ofrecemos argumentos acerca de la utilidad de una perspectiva de sistema de varios niveles en lo que respecta a la evolución subsidiaria. Consideramos que el entorno externo, el entorno interno y los factores subsidiarios estimulan las mejoras de modo sistémico. Los factores principales para el papel mejorado de las subsidiaridades se sitúan en el entorno externo global. Corporaciones transnacionalesu2003Evolución subsidiariau2003Investigación y Desarrollo (Iu2009+u2009D)u2003Industria farmacéuticau2003Irlanda

Creating City-region Governance Structures in a Dysfunctional Polity: The Case of Ireland’s National Spatial Strategy

Devolution of powers and functions from national to regional level has been a common experience internationally in recent times. A range of possible driving forces underpinning this trend are reviewed. The city-region has become a favoured spatial unit for organising direct regional participation in global markets. New governance structures are being forged for mobilising joint cross-communuty action in pursuit of broad regional objectives. A range of influences can shape the configuration of these structures, giving rise to a varied geography of regional governance arrangements. This paper focuses on the dysfunctional governance structures which have inhibited the implementation of the National Spatial Strategy, introduced by the Irish government in 2002 with the objective of achieving balanced regional development through the creation of a polycentric system of city-regions. These structures are described and their origins attributed to features of the Irish system of government which favour administrative centralisation over devolution.

Information Technology, Gender Segmentation and the Relocation of Back Office Employment: The Growth of the Teleservices Sector in Ireland

The movement of routine back office activities from the central business districts of metropolitan regions in advanced economies to remote locations is leading to a distinctive global division of labour in office employment. While facilitated by the development of information and communication technologies, this process of relocation is primarily driven by the desire to reduce operating costs, mainly by moving to sources of cheap female workers. This reflects a classic gender segmentation process in patriarchal societies whereby back office work is mainly done by women and, accordingly, involves relatively low levels of remuneration. This provides direct parallels with the offshoring of routine manufacturing work associated with the new international division of labour. Ireland has been to the forefront in acting as a host for internationally-mobile routine office work, initially involving mainly data processing and, more recently, teleservices. As elsewhere, teleservices employment in Ireland is characterized by a combination of female predominance, low pay, difficult working conditions and high turnover rates. However, the Irish teleservices sector is unusual in its foreign language requirement, the high education levels of workers and its concentration in a prosperous metropolitan location. The resultant labour shortages, combined with growing use of Internet-based business-to-consumer transactions, are likely to place the sustainability of the sector under increasing pressure. Plans to upgrade the types of back office functions being located in Ireland may pose further challenges for women workers due to male dominance of the higher-level jobs involved.

Social Polarisation in the Post-Fordist Informational Economy: Ireland in International Context'

This paper examines the processes whereby post-Fordist economic restructuring is widely held to have led to growing social polarisation in the advanced capitalist economies. Conceptual fuzziness has clouded the polarisation hypothesis, and a review of international evidence shows no clear trend towards either occupational or earnings inequality. There is stronger evidence of growing household income inequality, due mainly to changes in household composition and national taxation and social welfare policies. In the case of the Republic of Ireland, there has been a more definite tendency towards occupational, earnings and household income polarisation in the 1990s, giving rise to important policy implications at a time of unprecedented national prosperity.

The spatiality of Irish manufacturing linkages in the ‘Celtic Tiger’ era

Manufacturing investment from abroad has been of immense importance to Ireland’s economic development in recent decades. In particular, high levels of foreign investment in manufacturing were the main contributor to the unprecedented economic growth rates from the early 1990s which led to Ireland’s economy being compared with the Asian ‘Tigers’. Clearly it is desirable from a national economic point of view that the current base of foreign manufacturing firms should remain as embedded as possible. In this respect, the low level of local linkages developed by foreign firms has been a constant concern for policymakers. A number of studies have been conducted on the nature of linkages developed within the Irish economy by foreign-owned manufacturing plants in terms of the nature of these linkages and their potential for further development. However, there has been little research on the spatial patterns of external linkages of the plants in question. Based on a survey of 91 firms in four key manufacturing sectors, this paper examines the spatial configuration of the material input linkages of Irish manufacturing industry. The findings show that major sectoral variations exist in the spatiality of the linkage structures of Irish manufacturing industry. The paper concludes with a discussion of the possible implications of these variations for the future stability and embeddedness of manufacturing firms in the Irish economy.

Regional economic resilience in Ireland: the roles of industrial structure and foreign inward investment

This paper examines the resilience of Irish regions during the course of the post-2007 economic crisis, focusing specifically on employment change in firms in receipt of assistance from the Irish government’s enterprise development agencies. The paper classifies both regions and sectors in terms of their employment performance both before and during the recession and employs a number of techniques to assess the roles of sectoral composition, firm nationality and other factors in shaping the recession’s regional impact. While nationality mix is significant, sectoral composition is seen as having a more important impact on regional employment performance. Other factors also have an important role in some regions, but their precise nature remains unknown.

Occupational change and social polarisation in Ireland:further evidence

This paper extends to the year 2002 that section of an earlier paper (Breathnach 2002b) which considered whether the pattern of occupational change occurring in Ireland during the period 1991–1996 indicated the operation of processes of social polarisation. The occupational categories contained in the Census of Population were recast in order to create a set of broad groups which facilitated analysis from a social polarisation perspective. This analysis demonstrated strong growth, on the one hand, in the numbers of employers & managers and professional & technical workers and, on the other, in certain unskilled occupational groups (personal services and retail sales) – the latter following the allocation to these groups of the bulk of the greatly-expanded number of workers who failed to state their occupation in the 2002 census. Meanwhile, key middle-income groups, including blue-collar industrial, clerical and public service workers experienced contraction in their overall share of employment. These findings provide considerable support for the social polarisation hypothesis, albeit in the context of overall professionalisation of the occupational structure. Female workers have been to the fore in driving these processes of change, in that there has been above-average growth of female employment in those occupational categories at both ends of the occupational spectrum.