Global production networks, offshore services and the branch-plant syndrome

This article combines the global production network (GPN) framework with the branch-plant economy literature to generate a set of indicators for a more nuanced understanding of the outcomes of foreign direct investment attraction for recipient regions. It adapts both literatures to the case of offshore services and empirically maps the position and power relations of business process outsourcing branch offices in the Philippines. A multi-sited case study shows the variegated outcomes of foreign branch office development. In particular, second-tier cities are characterized by a dependent position in the international division of labour, confirming some ideas of the branch-plant syndrome.