Factories or Warehouses? A Welsh Perspective on Japanese Transplant Manufacturing

Abstract

MUNDAY M., MORRIS J. and WILKINSON B. (1995) Factories or warehouses? A Welsh perspective on Japanese transplant manufacturing, Reg. Studies 29, 1–17. Critics of Japanese direct manufacturing investment have argued that the Japanese transplant manufacturing sector (TMS) represents an attempt to circumvent trade barriers rather than a genuine globalization of Japanese capital, and that host regions will find themselves with warehouses or low value-added final assembly plants rather than fully integrated manufacturing operations which will contribute significantly to the development of the local economy. This paper presents a detailed study of the economic impact of Japanese manufacturing in Wales, a region within the UK which has one of the highest concentrations of Japanese manufacturing investment in Europe. It finds that there are some problems with Japanese investment, but although Japanese companies do appear to operate their businesses in different ways to other inward investors, many of these are be...