The Myth of Japanese Efficiency : The World Car Industry in a Globalizing Age

'Coffey's insightful book promises to make a critical contribution to the literature on the automobile industry. The book lucidly brings together original research, literatures in the economics and sociology of production, and innovative analysis. Coffey has written a book of exceedingly high calibre.' - Sarah S. Lochlann Jain, Stanford University, US 'The last thirty-five years has seen the emergence of the doctrine that the Japanese motor industry was super-efficient leading to unmatchable average unit costs of production. At the same time the 1990s saw most Japanese car and truck companies hitting stormy waters and most falling under the control of foreign vehicle companies. This fine book explains this paradox and confirms the view of some that the Japanese vehicle firms were not as special as they were made out to be. For those wishing to separate the myth and reality of the Japanese car and truck industry this book is a "must read". There is no longer a "Japanese" threat, but there may be a Toyota one. Read this book and see why.' - Garel Rhys OBE, Cardiff University, UK 'An original and provocative thesis which casts the "lean" and "flexible" in an entirely new light - a challenging study of myth making in a globalizing world.' - Ulrich Juergens, Social Science Research Centre Berlin, Germany 'This is an important book about a big subject: Dan Coffey makes the case for this development of a "production fantasy" around the Japan car industry. Dan is an unusual economist: one who takes production seriously, actually seeks to observe what goes on, and understand it. He is ingenious and his empirical work is first rate. An original contribution of great significance.' - Keith Cowling, Warwick University, UK