DAN COFFEY is Senior Lecturer in Economics at Leeds University Business School, UK, and has research interests in global political economy, state economic policy, and the social construction of production systems. He publishes in a range of journals and is author of a recent major study of the world auto industry. CAROLE THORNLEY is Senior Lecturer in the School of Economic and Management Studies at the University of Keele, UK, and has research interests in globalization, employment systems and structures, equalities, industrial organization and public policy. She previously worked for several major manufacturing multinationals, and is widely published in books and journals.