ABSTRACT
The specific combination of location factors which influences the distribution of economic activity between and within each country or region constitutes the areas’ localised capabilities. This chapter discusses how, and to what extent, the process of internationalisation converts formerly valuable localised capabilities into ‘ubiquities’. We call this a process of ‘ubiquitification’. Ubiquitification may undermine the competitiveness of firms in the high-cost areas of the world. When international markets are opened and when knowledge of the latest production technologies and organisational designs are becoming globally available, firms in low-cost regions are becoming increasingly competitive.
