Title: Shifts in manufacturing: an illustrative study on passenger car production location

Authors: Erik J. De Bruijn, Harm-Jan Steenhuis

Addresses: Public Administration and Technology, School of Business, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, AE Enschede 7500, The Netherlands. ' Department of Management, College of Business and Public Administration, Eastern Washington University, 668 N. Riverpoint Blvd Suite A, Spokane, WA 99202-1660, USA

Abstract: This paper examines to what extent the international transfer of production activities is real or generalisable by analysing the location shifts in passenger car manufacturing since 1997. The findings illustrate that there is no conclusive evidence that passenger car manufacturing is relocated from high labour cost towards low labour cost countries.

Keywords: internationalisation; production location; international manufacturing; passenger car production; vehicle production; automobile industry; automotive manufacturing; production transfer; low labour costs; production patterns; location overseas.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMTM.2007.012447

International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 2007 Vol.11 No.1, pp.77 - 97

Published online: 14 Feb 2007 *

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