The key role of infrastructure in backshoring operations: the case of free zones
Abstract
‘Backshoring’ or ‘reshoring’ is a key issue for governments and companies. This article aims to address the role of infrastructure in backshoring process through the free zone areas. Based on the interactive network approach, two case studies have been analysed, one in the United States of America and the other in Mauritius. Results show the helpfulness of this broader view in understanding certain characteristics of backshoring. From this perspective, we could consider backshoring as a network process that binds actors locally thanks to the reshoring of resources in order to combine them and create new value with domestic activities. These activities are neither the same as they were when domestic, nor the same as when they were once abroad because the whole interaction process in the supply chain networks changes the nature of interactions. This research concludes that, offshoring, then backshoring …