Financialized sourcing practices

How does financialization shape the sourcing practices of global apparel brands and retailers?

This research stream investigates the relationship of two key processes of the modern global economy: outsourcing and financialization. It focuses on the dynamics between apparel corporations and their shareholders. The stream examines how investor preferences and capital market dynamics shape the corporate business strategies of apparel brands and retailers, including how they organize and govern apparel global supply chains. The methods of investigation include  balance sheet analysis of the financial stocks and flows of the largest global apparel buyers, stock market analysis, and interviews with key informants from lead and supplier firms. Using this data, we examine whether shareholder value and ‘financialized sourcing practices’ vary based on the  institutional and regulatory dynamics in the home countries of apparel brands and retailers across the US, Europe and Japan.