various forms. In everyday use, money and assets that can be turned into money are considered as capital. But in global economy, capital contains physical inputs into the process of production, like buildings, machines and human resources. Physical capital is reflected through monetary terms most of the times, because value is measured via money. Individuals can exchange real assets for money but societies cannot apply the same process. Money capital is thought to be extremely mobile. Firms and individuals can transfer funds to various financial institutions and different regions in less than an hour. However, real capital -constituting the main factor of production- is not even as close as mobile as money; some equipment is place-bound. An individual can liquidize such real assets, making immobile assets into mobile capital, though real capital is measured in money, meaning that real assets may lose their value along the way, making such a move injurious. Capital mobility can be identified in three types. Firstly, money capital is able to barter for either goods or services. Secondly, real capital -machinery, human capital, etc. – can be transferred through regions, though some real assets have limited mobility. Lastly, the value of real assets may fluctuate due to shifts in global economy. (Blair,1995).
资本的含义可以有多种形式。在日常使用中，货币和可以转化为货币的资产被视为资本。但在全球经济中，资本包含对生产过程的实物投入，如建筑、机器和人力资源。实物资本大多数时候都是通过货币来反映的，因为价值是通过货币衡量的。个人可以用实物资产换取金钱，但社会不能采用同样的程序。货币资本被认为具有极大的流动性。企业和个人可以在不到一小时的时间内将资金转移到不同的金融机构和不同的地区。然而，构成主要生产要素的实际资本甚至不如货币那样具有流动性；有些设备是固定的。个人可以将此类实物资产变现，将不动资产转化为流动资本，尽管实物资本是以货币计量的，这意味着实物资产可能会在变现过程中贬值，从而使这种行为具有损害性。资本流动可分为三种类型。首先，货币资本能够以物易物来换取商品或服务。其次，实物资本——机器、人力资本等——可以通过区域转移，尽管一些实物资产的流动性有限。最后，实物资产的价值可能会因全球经济的变化而波动。
Cost reduction is a crucial factor prompting leading firms to adopt practices such as outsourcing and subcontracting, though cost as a concept is relative. To achieve better understanding of how cost influences the production network, the actor specific capabilities that a firm or a supplier possesses must be taken into consideration. A cost-capability ratio helps to understand the impact of cost and why leading firms choose to outsource specific value adding processes to specific suppliers. This ratio differs from corporation to corporation. Firms may optimize this ratio through reducing cost or by cultivating new capabilities or by both ways. Firms that optimize their cost/capability ratio using global production networks have a better chance to keep or upgrade their position in global end markets. Suppliers who embed into a leading firms’ production network and upgrade their own capabilities, might optimize their own ratios over time. These suppliers might become strategic partners of the firm, if transaction relations are amplified and interfirm learning takes place. Market creation in global production networks theory involves both producers and customers. Producers seek more profits by expanding in different markets and customers demand better products or services at lower prices. The continuing configuration of a production network and the creation of new markets is the outcome of this repeated process. Firms are getting pressured to develop and sustain their market reach, regardless their cost/capability ratios. Firms with high ratios are more prone to reconfigure their production networks in order for them to maintain their position in the market. Low ratio leading firms carry on trying to gain access to market and hope to benefit from first mover advantages in markets. In the meantime, suppliers are subject to the same pressures, as market access via leading firms eventually leads to more value capture. Customers are crucial as well for market creation. Except from quality and price, customers are now more informed than ever about the products they use and take into consideration more factors such as environmental impingement or ethical and social responsibility. These preferences have a growing impact in constructing and
