Business services and the financing of global production networks: the case of global law firms in Southeast Asia

Financial and business services (FABSs) as intermediaries play a significant role in global production networks (GPNs). Yet, the mechanisms through which they influence the activities of lead and supplier firms in GPNs have received little in-depth attention. This article addresses the shortcoming and examines how global legal business services configure the financial discipline of transnational corporations (TNCs) in Southeast Asia. It documents the way FABS articulate financial imperatives and encourages the reproduction of 'global financial architectures'. It also shows, however, that temporal dynamics and spatial specificities in the power relations between FABS and TNCs generate variegated financial configurations. Southeast Asian TNCs adopt and adapt in ways that serve their interests. This implies that the governance effects of FABS have important temporal and spatial contingencies that need to be accounted for in analyses of GPNs.