Second, multi-site research seems to provide a better set of data for triangulation purposes.
Typically, an economic geographer will trace the entire GPN or a large portion of it in order
to focus strategically on some key sites within this GPN, e.g. where the lead firm operates
and where some of its key suppliers and markets are located. This “tracing the GPN” method
can be very rewarding, but it is equally challenging methodologically (and even financially!).
There is therefore a need to coordinate GPN research perhaps on such a scale that resembles
a research GPN in its own right. This methodological challenge is immense but can be
overcome with cross-national coordination of research funding and activities. Some of the
papers in this special issue have exemplified how research GPNs work in reality (e.g.
Aoyama and Parthasarathy in this issue).