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Policy Entrepreneurs and FDI Attraction: Canada’s Auto Industry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2019

GREIG MORDUE
GREIG MORDUE*
Affiliation:
Greig Mordue is an associate professor and ArcelorMittal Dofasco Chair in Advanced Manufacturing Policy at McMaster University. Contact info. W Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology, Faculty of Engineering McMaster University, 1280 Main St., W. Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4L8. E-mail: mordueg@mcmaster.ca
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Abstract

New perspective is provided on a critical period in the development of the Canadian automotive industry. In the 1980s, five foreign manufacturers built new vehicle assembly operations in Canada, effectively transforming that country’s automotive industry. Drawing from a combination of interviews with key actors and a review of archives, this case study makes several contributions. First, gaps are closed in the economic history of one of Canada’s most important industries. Second, the case demonstrates the capacity of using historical perspective to extend an existing theory to a new area of inquiry. In this case, Multiple Streams Theory is employed to explain the process of inward FDI attraction. This includes a description of the role of policy entrepreneurs and their capacity to create and exploit opportunities. Third, the case demonstrates the continuing relevance of integrating historical perspective to contemporary issues in business, management, and public policy.

Type
Article
Information
Enterprise & Society , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , September 2019 , pp. 684 - 718
Copyright
Copyright © The Author 2019. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Business History Conference. All rights reserved. 

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