ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a contribution to the debate on the social consequences of delocalization on the basis of an empirical study of four labour-intensive industries in five countries – both old and new members of the EU: the UK, Greece, Estonia, Poland and Bulgaria. Social consequences may be studied using two approaches – tracing the careers of people who lost their jobs due to delocalization or analysing quantitative and qualitative changes in the labour markets and social wellbeing on different geographical scales. The expansion of traditional labour-intensive industries largely takes place outside the developed areas of Central Eastern European Countries. The fundamental question concerns the overall long-term effects of delocalization on social wellbeing. Social wellbeing is determined by economic development on various geographical scales; thus it is necessary to consider how delocalization affects competitiveness of local, regional and national economies. The public debate on the social consequences of delocalization of labour-intensive industries is clouded by common misinterpretations.
