Part of the emerging picture of diminishing national economic boundaries is the movement of foreign firms, not only into presently industrialized countries such as the U.S. but into Third World countries as well. This is especially true when we look at the movement of Japanese and American firms into the same countries, using similar workers in highly competitive industries such as electronics and auto components. When these firms undertake production operations outside of familiar social and labor market environment, exciting sociological experiments naturally take place as well. These endeavors have great potential for teaching both social scientists, Third World government officials and the managers and owners of these operations much that will surprise them about alternative ways of effectively organizing production work. This dissertation research will apply the skills of two highly and even uniquely qualified individuals (Portes and student Koido) to a study of local labor markets, internal labor markets and transnational corporations in a third world nation. Of special interest here is a comparison of the operations of U.S. and Japanese firms as they differently restructure their operations in this country. This grant will support the graduate student's collection of data in the field, primarily through intensive interviews with plant managers and workers associated with Japanese and American firms. The faculty PI is qualified by extensive research experience to guide first rate studies in Third World countries. The doctorial student is uniquely qualified to do this study, being affluent in English, Japanese and Spanish.
