Bio Niels Beerepoot

  I am a lecturer and researcher at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research of the University of Amsterdam. In 2000, I finished my graduate studies in International Economics and Economic Geography at Utrecht University. In the same year I moved to the University of Amsterdam to start my PhD research. Late 2004, I finished my PhD thesis titled "Collective Learning in Small Enterprise Clusters: Skilled Workers, Labour Market Dynamics and Knowledge Accumulation in the Philippine Furniture Industry" (thesis defence 18-02-2005). This thesis is based on 15 months of empirical data collection in Cebu and Pampanga in the Philippines. In 2006, I was visiting researcher at the Centre for the Study of Cities and Regions of Durham University (UK) where I carried out a comparative study on industrial decline in Western Europe and Southeast Asia. In 2009, I was visiting researcher at the Tata Institute of Social Science in Mumbai (for 2.5 months) with a research grant from the NWO-ICSSR Social Science Cooperation Programme India-Netherlands. Since 2011, I am the project leader of the NWO-WOTRO Integrated-Programme project on understanding the local outcomes of the emergence of the offshore service sector in Mumbai and Manila. This project is a collaboration with researchers from the University of Mumbai and the University of the Philippines and concentrates on the patterns of offshore service sector development in both cities, access to employment and chances for upward labour mobility, the induced and indirect effects and wider social implications in both cities. A more extensive summary of my research interests can be found elsewhere on this website.

Research projects

WOTRO Integrated Programme (2011-2016)

Contemporary globalisation is increasingly referred to as hierarchical integration in a new international division of labour, re-inventing and re-inscribing patterns of uneven development. This project concentrates on contemporary globalisation by means of the international expansion of offshore service delivery. Offshore service delivery is still at an early stage of development and there is limited knowledge on the scope and magnitude of this particular form of globalisation. To what extent this follows different patterns compared to industrial offshoring, with regard to issues such as the embeddedness of production and opportunities for upgrading and upward labour mobility has, so far, not been a subject of in-depth analysis. Furthermore, limited knowledge is available on the enclave-nature of contemporary globalisation and whether it strengthens inequalities between people who benefit from the new economic opportunities and those who are confronted with various forms of exclusion.

India is the leader and main beneficiary of offshore service sector development while the Philippines is recently emerging as a new offshoring destination. Offshore financial services are a relatively new branch in service offshoring and comprise both lower and higher end activities. This research project will analyse the emergence of the offshore financial back-office activities in Mumbai and Manila, and explain its role as a driver of economic and social change, by integrating the following research questions:

1) Which patterns of expansion of the offshore service-sector and transition towards higher value added service activities can be observed in both locations?

2) Which kind of segmentation of the labour force exists in the offshore service-sector and what opportunities are present for upward mobility within this sector?

3) Which role does the offshore service-sector play in middle class formation in both cities and what role does this group have as a driver of economic development?

4) What are the commonalities and differences between the current and previous wave of globalization?

5) How can the offshore service sector act as driver of inclusive development within both cities?

The first three questions are each addressed by one PhD-researcher working in both cities while a post-doc researcher together with the senior researchers concentrate on question four and five. The proposed research will generate new input to discussions on patterns of economic development, based on the outsourcing of services, and their broader impact on the social fabric of emerging economies.

Globalisation and the reworking of labour market segmentation (2008-present)

Contemporary globalisation is increasingly referred to as a process of hierarchical integration in the (new) international division of labour. Economic and social progress accompanying globalisation has divided developing countries into two separate yet interrelated economic spheres. Divisions are created (among others) between people with access to newly created jobs, such as in the offshore service sector (and belong to an emerging middle class), and those whose role is to provide them with low paid (informal sector) services and goods. This raises the question how the 'new competition' on the labour market will have its local outcome in various parts of the world and how it challenges traditional labour segmentation theories. The Philippines is a good example of a country that is currently experiencing a number of simultaneous processes that rework labour market segmentation and lead to a repositioning of the country within the international division of labour. This research will identify along which lines segmentation takes place in the urban economy and whether a sharper divide is emerging between labour segments.

International Reconfiguration of Value Chains in Labour Intensive Manufacturing (2007-present)

For a long period, labour intensive, low technological manufacturing has been seen as one of the drivers of economic development in developing countries. These industries were also important for providing employment to many people with limited formal education. In the past decade, globalisation has led to major international shifts in labour intensive manufacturing generating 'winners' and 'losers' among countries, industries and workers. The Philippines provides a good example of the problems and dilemmas faced by many industrial areas in less-developed parts of the world as globalisation moves forward. The country can no longer compete internationally in many labour intensive industries (like garments, shoes) while cheap imports affect the position of many small scale industries that are focused on the national market. The development of China as 'workshop of the world' is affecting both kinds of manufacturers in the Philippines . This research focuses on the international reconfiguration of value chains. Decline of labour intensive manufacturing in the context of developing countries has been a relatively new subject for research. Discussions of the position of labour in international value chains seldom focus on the aftermath of restructuring, when production has disappeared and workers are left behind in a situation where workers' rights are no longer guaranteed.

Collective Learning in Small Enterprise Clusters (2001-2006)

Collective learning has been recognised as major factor in facilitating and maintaining competitiveness for clusters of small enterprises in developing countries. This study examined the existence of learning processes in the furniture clusters in Cebu and Pampanga, the Philippines . Instead of analysing a cluster as a geographical and sectoral concentration of small firms, this study analysed the clusters as a geographical concentrations of related knowledge and skills embedded in a locally concentrated labour market. By taking actors on the local labour market (entrepreneurs, skilled workers and subcontractors) as the units of analysis, this research took an original approach in the study of clustering. In attempting to better understand collective learning processes, it is necessary to identify how a learning process is built up and who is involved in it. In clusters of small enterprises, knowledge and skills are not embedded in firms, but in the local labour force and the movements of a skilled and flexible labour force serve as channel for knowledge transfer between enterprises. This study demonstrated that while knowledge and skills are transferred easily between workers, there are a number of difficulties for the labour market to serve as mode for the generation of new knowledge and hence upgrading of the Cebu cluster. The difficult complementation of traditional artisan knowledge and skills with formal knowledge on furniture making hinders the effective utilisation of the labour force as key asset for competitiveness of the cluster. With regard to the benefits of learning this research demonstrated that the workers''embodied expertise' is rewarded only to a very small extent and labour movements are more the result of job insecurity rather than pursuing opportunities for upward mobility within employment.

Publications

Peer-reviewed publications:

Beerepoot, N. & C. Keijser (forthcoming). The service outsourcing sector as driver of development: evidence from Ghana’s ICT for Accelerated Development programme. In: TESG Journal of Economic and Social Geography

Beerepoot, N. & B. Lambregts (2014). Competition in online job marketplaces: towards a global labour market for service outsourcing? In: Global Networks, DOI: 10.1111/glob.12051

Beerepoot, N. (2014). Global convergence in the new international division of labour: the opportunities and challenges of outsourcing and offshoring. In: The Broker
http://www.thebrokeronline.eu/Articles/Creating-a-global-labour-market

Beerepoot, N. & M. Hendriks (2013). Employability of Offshore Service Workers in the Philippines: opportunities for upward labour mobility or dead-end jobs? In: Work, Employment and Society, Vol. 27 (5), pp. 823-841. doi: 10.1177/0950017012469065   

Van Westen, G., N. Beerepoot, E. Andriese & B. Van Helvoirt (2011). Regional business systems and inclusive/exclusive development in the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia In: B. Helmsing and S. Vellema (eds.) Value Chains, Inclusion and Endogenous Development: Contrasting Theories and Realities. London: Routledge, pp. 151-177.

Beerepoot, N. (2010). Globalisation and the reworking of labour market segmentation in the Philippines. In: H. Knutsen et al. (eds), Missing Links in Labour Geographies, London: Ashgate, pp. 199-2010.

Beerepoot, N. & M. Hernández-Agramonte (2009). Social movement unionism in the Philippines: Organising displaced workers from the garments industry. In: Novelli, M. & Ferus-Comelo, A. (eds.) Globalisation, Knowledge & Labour, London: Routledge, pp. 122-139.

Beerepoot, N. & M. Hernández-Agramonte (2009). Post MFA-adjustment of the Philippine Garments Sector: Women’s Cooperatives Amidst Manufacturing Decline. In: European Journal of Development Research, Vol. 21 (3). 

Beerepoot, N. (2008). The benefits of learning in clusters: analysing upward mobility for skilled workers in the Cebu furniture cluster. In: Environment and Planning A Vol. 40 (10), pp. 2435-2452. 

Beerepoot, N. (2008). Diffusion of knowledge and skills through labour markets: evidence from the furniture cluster in Metro Cebu. In: Entrepreneurship and Regional Development Vol. 20 (1), pp. 67-88.

Beerepoot, M. & N. Beerepoot (2007). Government regulation as an impetus for innovation: evidence from energy performance regulation in the Dutch residential building sector. In: Energy Policy Vol. 35 (10), pp. 4812-4825.

Beerepoot, N. (2007). Learning and Entrepreneurship in the Furniture Cluster in Metro Cebu. In: International Development Planning Review Vol. 29 (1), pp. 23-42.

Beerepoot, N. (2005). Collective learning by artisanal subcontractors in a Philippine furniture cluster. In: TESG-Journal of Economic and Social Geography Vol. 96 (5) pp. 573-584.

Beerepoot, N. (2005). Collective Learning in Small Enterprise Clusters: Skilled Workers, Labour Market Dynamics and Knowledge Accumulation in the Philippine Furniture Industry. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Amsterdam

Beerepoot, N. (2004). Learning in small enterprise clusters: the role of skilled workers in the diffusion of knowledge in the Philippines. In: International Journal of Technology and Globalization, Vol. 1 (1) pp. 78-91.

Beerepoot, N. (2003) The contribution of skilled workers in the diffusion of knowledge in the Philippines. In: S. Mani & H. Romijn (eds.) “Innovation, Learning and Technological Dynamism of Developing Countries, pp. 158-177. Tokyo: United Nations University Press.

Professional (not peer-reviewed) publications:

Beerepoot, N. & I. Roodheuvel (2014). Integratie van Indiase bedrijven op de Nederlandse outsourcing markt. In: Geografie, Vol. 23 (7), pp. 10-11.

Beerepoot, N., I. Roodheuvel & F. Jacobs (2014). Integration of Indian Service Providers in the Dutch Outsourcing market.  Report for Platform Outsourcing Nederland (44 pp.). Amsterdam: Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research.

Beerepoot, N., C. Keijser & J. Tesorio (2014). Invisible, Scattered, Difficult to Contact: Union Challenges and Strategies to Engage Contract Workers in Developing Countries. Report for CNV Internationaal (66 pp.). Amsterdam: Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research.

Beerepoot, N. (2012). Concurrentie op Friedman’s platte aarde: Online marktplaatsen als voorbode van globale concurrentie. In: Geografie, Vol. 21 (8), pp. 18-19.

Beerepoot, N. & M. Hendriks (2011). Overspoeld door Globalisering: De offshore dienstensector in de Filippijnen. In: Geografie, Vol. 20 (7), pp. 20-22.

Beerepoot, N. (2011). Understanding embeddedness of value chains. In: B. Helmsing and S. Vellema (eds.) Value chains governance and inclusive endogenous development. Amsterdam: DPRN Phase 2, Report no. 26, pp. 54-57.

Beerepoot, N., J. Boukens, I. Lubbersen & M. Van Meeteren (2009). Bijlmerkeuken en culinaire ambassades: de geografie van exotisch eten in twee Amsterdamse stadsdelen. In: Geografie, Vol. 18 (1), pp. 34-35.

Beerepoot, N. (2008). Local outcomes of globalisation: manufacturing decline and labour response in the Philippine garments and shoe industry. In: Philippine Journal of Labour and Industrial Relations Vol. 28 (1/2), pp. 26-44.

Beerepoot, N. (2008). Book review for Asian Informal Workers: Global Risk, Local Protection, by S. Mehrotra & M. Biggeri (eds.). In: Development and Change Vol. 39 (2), pp. 340-341.

Beerepoot, N. (2007). Book review for Satanic Mills or Silicon Island? The Politics of High-tech Production in the Philippines, by S. C.  McKay. In: Economic Geography Vol. 83 (3), pp. 333-334.

Beerepoot, N. (2006). Ondernemen aan de onderkant van de internationale waardeketen. In: Geografie, Vol. 15 (7) pp. 34-36.

Beerepoot, N. (2006). Evolution and adjustment of the Cebu furniture cluster. In: Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society Vol. 34 (1), pp. 64-95.

Beerepoot, N. (2003) Challenges and upgrading strategies for the Pampanga furniture industry. In: Journal for Kapampangan Studies, pp. 61-72.

Beerepoot, N. (2002) Development strategies for knowledge based production systems in small enterprise clusters. In: R. Ofreneo et al. (eds.) Changing Work and Employment Relations in a Globalising Asia: towards decency and fairness. Manila: UP-Solair, pp. 263-274.

Beerepoot, N. & G. Van Westen (2001), The Mactan Export Processing Zone in Comparative Perspective. In: Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Vol. 29 (4), pp. 226-251.

Understanding the current wave in globalisation: the segmented outcomes of offshore service sector development in Mumbai and Manila

Contemporary globalisation is increasingly referred to as hierarchical integration in a new international division of labour, re-inventing and re-inscribing patterns of uneven development. This project concentrates on contemporary globalisation by means of the international expansion of offshore service delivery. Offshore service delivery is still at an early stage of development and there is limited knowledge on the scope and magnitude of this particular form of globalisation. To what extent this follows different patterns compared to industrial offshoring, with regard to issues such as the embeddedness of production and opportunities for upgrading and upward labour mobility has, so far, not been a subject of in-depth analysis. Furthermore, limited knowledge is available on the "enclave-nature" of contemporary globalisation and whether it strengthens inequalities between people who benefit from the new economic opportunities and those who are confronted with various forms of exclusion.
 
India is the leader and main beneficiary of offshore service sector development while the Philippines is recently emerging as a new offshoring destination. Offshore financial services are a relatively new branch in service offshoring and comprise both lower and higher end activities. This research project will analyse the emergence of the offshore financial back-office activities in Mumbai and Manila, and explain its role as a driver of economic and social change, by integrating the following research questions:

1) Which patterns of expansion of the offshore service-sector and transition towards higher value added service activities can be observed in both locations?

2) Which kind of segmentation of the labour force exists in the offshore service-sector and what opportunities are present for upward mobility within this sector?

3) Which role does the offshore service-sector play in middle class formation in both cities and what role does this group have as a driver of economic development?

4) What are the commonalities and differences between the current and previous wave of globalization?

5) How can the offshore service sector act as driver of inclusive development within both cities?

To answer these questions, four PhD researchers (concentrating on questions one-three), one Post-doc researchers (concentrating on question four) and senior researchers from University of Amsterdam-Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, University of the Philippines-School of Labour and Industrial Relations, and University of Mumbai-Department of Economics collaborate. The project will provide input to discussions on patterns of economic development, based on the outsourcing of services, and their broader impact on the social fabric of emerging economies.

• WOTRO IP- next wave in globalisation

• Article Business World Philippines

• Project website Understanding Globalisation

• AISSR-website

• Geen nevenwerkzaamheden