What are the politics around economic globalization, and how do institutions shape globalization? Current frameworks for understanding the politics over economic globalization emphasize a fragmentation of politics: political conflict breaks down to individual firms and citizens, because the gains from trade are concentrated on large, globally engaged, and politically active firms. Departing from this view, PINPOINT develops a framework built on the linkages between firms created by domestic production networks. These are an important aspect of contemporary economies, but they are largely absent from our understanding of the politics around economic globalization. The linkages created by production networks imply a much broader impact of economic globalization, because many domestic firms interact with international markets indirectly as suppliers and as customers of globally engaged firms. Moreover, these linkages vary in quantity and quality across firms, industries, and countries. PINPOINT places economic exchange between firms front and center in an account of the behavior of governments, firms, and citizens in the context of international markets, and of the role of institutions in such an account.
The project has three core objectives. First, it seeks to understand whether policy-makers are more responsive to firms embedded in production networks, explaining policy outcomes. Second, it seeks to understand whether production networks shape the behavior of firms, explaining firm behavior in politics and markets. Third, it seeks to understand whether production networks matter for citizens, explaining citizen attitudes and election outcomes. The overall goal is to seek a better understanding of the political coalitions and the institutional features underpinning economic globalization.