Who really made your car? Restructuring and geographic change in the auto industry

Abstract

This book offers a comprehensive look at an industry whose role in motor vehicle production in the United States has been growing. Klier and Rubenstein make use of a unique database containing information on thousands of parts plants in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This allows them to produce an analysis of the motor vehicle parts supplier industry at a level of detail not seen before. It also allows them to meet the two main goals they set out to achieve. The first is to present the key characteristics of the vast network of parts suppliers. The second goal of the book is to describe the changing geography of U.S. motor vehicle production at the local, regional, national, and international levels. In doing that, Klier and Rubenstein illustrate the challenges in store for motor vehicle parts production in the United States and especially in the Midwest. © 2008 W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.