Multinationals on the periphery
DaimlerChrysler South Africa, human capital upgrading and regional economic development
Jo Lorentzen
210mm x 148mm
44pp
R 50.00
ISBN: 0-7969-2131-8
February 2006
Description
Utilising the DaimlerChrysler human resources upgrade in one of South Africas least developed provinces as the basis, this is a well-developed case study of the relationship between human capital in host economies and international capital inflows. It describes how DaimlerChrysler upgraded human resources in its East London plant where the company manufactures the Mercedes C-Class model for export. Lorentzen explores the extent and depth of the upgrading along and beyond the automotive supply chain, and its repercussions on local education and training institutions. Finally, he analyses how foreign direct investment and local industrial development interact in the short and medium term, and hypothesises as to the possible longer-term outcomes in the absence of proper regional economic planning.
About the Author/s
Professor Jo Lorentzen is a chief research specialist in the Education, Science, and Skills Development Research Programme. He holds a Masters degree from the American University in Washington, and a PhD from the European University Institute in Florence and has taught at universities in Eastern Europe, Italy, France, and the United States.
Before joining the HSRC, he was Associate Professor of International Business at Copenhagen Business School and spent the 2003/04 academic year on sabbatical at the School of Development Studies at the University of Kwazulu-Natal, where he is now an honorary research fellow.
