This book offers a collaborative investigation of the policies and practices which have redeveloped local and national economies in the aftermath of the global economic crisis which erupted in 2008. It explores 'localised' models of economic development, including problems of diversity and balance and the role of firms, industries and clusters, alongside comparative studies of policy responses to the crisis at local, regional and national levels Global Economic Crisis and Local Economic Development seeks routes for economic development in a post-crisis world. The roles of innovation, entrepreneurship, knowledge infrastructures, public policies, business strategies and responses, as well as global contexts and positioning are explored as investigative themes which run throughout the collection as a whole. This text brings together a range of international disciplinary experts from economics, geography, history, business and management, politics and sociology. Its coverage is comparative and global, with contributions focusing on the U.S., Japan, China, and India, as well as European contexts and cases. This book is of value both for the intrinsic quality of its individual studies and for the contrasts and comparisons enabled by the collection when viewed as a whole. It has an accessible but rigorous style, making it ideal for a range of users including academics, researchers and students who study economic development and regional development.

This innovative and multidisciplinary book explores Japan's economic crisis and recovery. Specifically, it analyses the role of corporations, the state, macroeconomic and industrial policy, and the changing status of Japan as an economic role model. The contributors list comprises an international panel of economists, political scientists and international relations specialists. From vantage points across Japan, North America and Europe, they bring together a collection of original studies considering Japan's economic malaise and the potential for sustained recovery. Topics covered include: * the relevance of Western economic models to the Japanese case * the Japanese macro-economy and financial system * the deep-seated controversy over the process and problems of kudoka - the hollowing out of Japan's industrial base * the future of Japan's small firm sector in a globalizing world. This provocative and timely book offers new reflections and original research findings on a topic of global interest and significance. As such it will strongly appeal to a wide-ranging audience including: academics in the fields of economics, political science and international relations, policymakers, advisors and practitioners in international institutions, think-tanks and labour organizations.

Combining case studies with accessible but rigorous production models and historical background, this provocative book challenges accepted views on Japanese production methods in the world car industry. The book argues that the 'lean and flexible' production model popularly associated with Toyota MC is a myth, but one which sheds light on cultural responses to the attendant stresses of globalization. To illustrate this, Dan Coffey provides individual studies of process flexibility, labour productivity and the re-organization of work in the global car industry. Wider evaluations of Japanese impacts on the global economy and a resurgent Western capitalism are then made, progressing the case for a fundamental re-assessment of the narratives informing popular accounts of Japan's manufacturing success. Beginning with the fictionalization of history and propagation of empirical counterfactuals and finishing with observations on the wider impact of the 'lean and flexible' approach, the bold and controversial conclusion reacheld by the author is that what is at stake is our understanding of the form and meaning of 'production fantasy'. The Myth of Japanese Efficiency casts a familiar debate in an unfamiliar light. It will strongly appeal to management and business strategy academics, political economists and industrial sociologists interested in the debate on Fordist versus 'post-Fordist' production methods/'lean and flexible' manufacture and Japanese post-war success in the world market for manufactured goods. Human resource management specialists interested in best production practice will also find much to interest them within this book.

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